Robert (Bob) Marshall McKinley, age 98 of Spring Hill, Tennessee, passed away in Franklin, Tennessee on October 22, 2018.
Bob was born in Granville, Tennessee on October 25, 1919, to the late Thomas Calhoun McKinley and Willie Kinnaird McKinley. He was the youngest of seven children. Bob graduated from Baxter Seminary in Baxter, Tennessee and attended Tennessee Technological University before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in March 1944. After returning from the war, he enrolled at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville where he played baseball for the Vols and graduated with a degree in Accounting in 1948. He met his wife, Barbara, when he was in Birmingham, Alabama working as an internal auditor for U.S. Steel. They were married in Birmingham on May 12, 1950. Bob and Barbara moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1953 where they made their home with three daughters, Marsha, Suzanne and Janet. Bob worked in Accounting and Management Information Systems for Aladdin Industries and at the Ford Motor Company Glass Plant. He retired from Ford in March 1984.
Quite the athlete, Bob excelled in sports throughout his high school, college and Navy days, playing football, volleyball, tennis and, his favorite sport – baseball. Golf and travel became his passions when he began working at Ford. Throughout his business career, Bob was involved in board leadership roles in various local and national accounting and information systems organizations. He also used his talents to teach evening accounting classes at Columbia State University and The University of Tennessee – Nashville. His passion for the University of Tennessee truly made him a “Vol for Life”.
In the early 1970’s Bob’s attention turned to raising registered Polled Hereford cattle and Tennessee Walking Horses on the farm in Spring Hill. The McKinley’s soon made a name in the industry as premier breeders and handlers of Tennessee Walking Horses. Bob was actively involved in the Spring Hill community and served as a board member of the city library and the Spring Hill United Methodist Church. Barbara and Bob traveled around the world but they always found the time and energy to bring the extended family together at more than forty years of July 4th and Thanksgiving reunions.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers and four sisters. He is survived by his loving wife of 68 years Barbara Jean (Ellis); daughters, Marsha Bennett (Carl) of Arizona, Suzanne Bennett (Ted) of Brentwood, Tennessee; Janet McKinley of Atlanta, Georgia; and grandsons Austin McKinley Bennett of Houston, Texas and Connor Mitchell Bennett of Atlanta, Georgia.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, October 25 from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm and on Friday, October 26 from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm at the Spring Hill Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 5239 Main Street, Spring Hill, Tennessee. Funeral services will be conducted on Friday, October 26 at 2:00 pm at the Spring Hill Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Granville Museum, P.O. Box 26, Granville, Tennessee 38564; The University of Tennessee Foundation (UTFI) in recognition of the “Bob and Barbara McKinley Student Enrichment Endowment”, P.O. Box 160, 1000 Main Entrance Drive, Spring Hill, Tennessee 37174; or to Kindred Hospice, 1400 Donelson Pike, Suite B5, Nashville, Tennessee 37217.
