|
| |
Captain Paul Robert (Bob) Boone, United States Navy Retired, passed away surrounded by family on December 1, 2025, at Ben Atchley Tennessee State Veterans' Home in Knoxville, Tenn.
His life was a full and rich one with dedication to service; service to country, service to community and service to family at its core.
Bob was born in Shawnee, Okla., to Paul Lowther Boone and Ann Lee Drinnan Boone on May 8, 1941. Paul and Ann Lee taught for many years in the Shawnee school system and at Oklahoma Baptist University.
Bob attended Woodrow Wilson Elementary School and was a 1959 graduate of Shawnee High School. He was an Eagle Scout, a member of the school barbershop quartet and active in the drama department during that time. From there, he attended University of Oklahoma on a Naval ROTC scholarship. He was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity.
After graduation, he married his high school sweetheart, Sharon Sue Haygood, and began active duty as a supply corps officer with the United States Navy. His assignments included Hawaii, New Mexico, Georgia, and Puerto Rico as well as multiple deployments at sea during the Vietnam War. He developed into an expert marksman, winning several pistol competitions during that time. His last duty assignment was at NAS Millington, Tenn. He retired from active duty, became a member of the Navy Reserves and accepted a position as director of financial aid at University of Memphis (known as Memphis State at the time).
Bob and his wife, Sharon, were active supporters of University of Memphis Tigers, being season ticket holders for both men's and women's basketball and football. They were a fixture at all the games as well as regularly attending team related radio broadcasts and coach's events. They were even recognized as the fans of the game at halftime one season, underscoring the enthusiasm they had for the Tiger community.
His interests were varied and made him a true renaissance man. Bob was an avid runner and member of Memphis Track Club for many years winning multiple 10k races in his age group culminating in a career high of qualifying and finishing the Boston Marathon. He always said he waited until he was 40 years old so he had more time to finish. He continued his education while working full time, obtaining a masters degree, and then continued his post graduate studies by auditing as many history classes as were available, even after retirement. He also took up playing the ukulele. He was a trivia whiz, amazing all with a vast fund of factual knowledge.
As an active member of Germantown Lions Club for many years, Bob supervised the scholarship program for high school seniors. His service to others reached far and affected many. As a father and grandfather, "Bob" as the girls called him, was always ready for fun games and adventures. Bob's life was certainly rich and multifaceted, experiential of all of life's offerings.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Paul Lowther Boone and Ann Lee Drinnan Boone, and his wife of 60 years, Sharon Sue Boone.
He is survived by his daughter, Dr. Susan Lynne Boone Roberts, Knoxville, Tenn.; his sister, Sally Boone Lupton, Albuquerque, N.M.; his grandchildren, Grace McLain Roberts and Eliza Jane Roberts, Knoxville.
He will be buried along with Sharon at Tennessee Veterans' Cemetery outside of Knoxville. Services will be announced at a later date.
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2026 Oklahoma CemeteriesThe information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.