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Robert B. Sale, Jr.

 

No. 19576August 18, 1932 - November 3, 2013          

Died: Houston, TX

Interred: Memorial Oaks, Houston, TX

 

Robert Bowles Sale Jr. was born in Ponca City, OK, to Robert and Florence Graham Sale. Bob grew up in that city and graduated from high school where he was captain of the baseball, basketball, and football teams and was chosen Outstanding Athlete.

On Jul 5, 1950, Bob entered West Point with the Class of 1954. As a cadet, he was outstanding in athletics, military activities, and academics. During yearling year, Bob won the Buckner Stakes, a prodigious feat as West Pointers know. He played baseball on “B” and “A” squads and had also captained the plebe team. In First Class year, he was Company Commander of M-1, an acknowledgment of leadership skills that were demonstrated throughout his life. Bob ranked 46th out of 633 overall in the graduating class and was 6th in physical education.

Commissioned in the Corps of Engineers, Bob finished the basic course of that branch and Ranger training and then married hometown sweetheart Sherrie Harris, then a sophomore at the University of Oklahoma. At age 16, Sherrie had known, admired, and fallen in love with Bob and on Dec 23, 1954, became his devoted wife in a marriage lasting 58 years. Following service with Engineer units at Fort Riley and in Germany, Bob resigned from the Army in 1957, earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1959, and later graduated from the Stonier School of Banking at Rutgers University. Classmate Jerry Lodge was with Bob at Harvard, and they remained close for many years.

Banking became Bob’s lifelong career, and he served in top management positions in several Houston banks. Along the way, he started San Felipe Bank and finished his career as Chairman of Compass Bank. In the midst of that long and impressive career, Bob suffered a traumatic gunshot wound during an attempted robbery of his home, leaving him paralyzed below the waist at age 49. Bob dealt with that hand with courage and without self-pity. His banking career was interrupted only by immediate hospitalization and recovery, and his professional example and advice before and after influenced the careers of many highly successful Texas bankers.

Dedicated to the Houston community, Bob served in many leadership and fund-raising positions. He supported The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) and its foundation in several ways: on the Board of Trustees, as fund-raiser, and as mentor of patients at TIRR Hospital. In Bob’s name, the Endowed Scholarship Fund for Spinal Cord Fellows is being established. Other religious, charitable, and civic organizations benefited from his help, as did the West Point Society of Houston.

Some of Bob’s fondest memories were the times he spent with his sons and friends enjoying sports and the outdoors in the brush country of South Texas. Before his injury, Bob was active as a coach for his sons’ baseball teams and participated in many parent-child tennis tournaments at The Houston Racquet Club.

Bob is survived by Sherrie, sons Jeff and Robby and their families, and his sister Sally Hays. He embodied the ideals of West Point and was a man of deep religious faith, both of which molded him for future roles as husband, father, friend, and businessman. During his life, Bob exhibited absolute integrity, unwavering faith, mental and physical toughness in the face of adversity, and a calm demeanor.

In the program for Bob’s memorial service, it is fittingly written: He fought the good fight, he finished the race, and he kept the faith.

— Family and Classmates

 
 

Originally published in TAPS, 2014

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