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Robert Felts Anthis, born Feb 8, 1931 in
Muskogee, OK, as the youngest of five children born to Ernest and Elizabeth
Anthis, was last but not least. Growing up in the heartland, his chores as a
youth included milking cows, picking cotton, and feeding the chickens. Other
interests included tennis, band, and building model airplanes. He met his
childhood sweetheart, Jean Black, in first grade, made her a paper airplane in
third grade, and took her to watch him fly his model planes on dates in high
school. After graduating from Muskogee High School in 1949, Robert attended
Oklahoma A & M College (now Oklahoma State University) for a year before
receiving an appointment to West Point. The same year that Robert entered the
Academy, his brother Louis, Class of 1948, was killed in the Korean War and
posthumously awarded a Silver Star. Robert was in Beast Barracks when the
authorities delivered word of his brother’s death and asked him whether he would
prefer to resign from West Point given the circumstances. He responded that he
wanted to remain in the Corps of Cadets as a member of the Class of 1954. He
graduated on Jun 8, 1954, married Jean Black of Muskogee ten days later, and
started his military life in the Armor branch.
After Armor Basic at Ft. Knox, KY, he
completed airborne school at Ft. Benning, GA, and joined the 1st Armored
Division at Ft. Hood, TX, where oldest son Stanley was born. In 1956, the 1st
Armored Division was sent to Ft. Polk, LA. Subsequent orders for the 14th
Armored Cavalry in Fulda, Germany, near the East German border resulted in a
three-and-a-half year tour and the addition of two daughters, Carolyn and Susan,
born in Frankfurt. They stayed at Ft. Knox long enough for Robert to acquire a
private pilot’s license before moving to Lafayette, IN, to attend Purdue
University, where Robert received a master’s degree in industrial psychology and
their youngest daughter, Janet, was born. During 1962-65, Robert joined the
faculty at West Point, taught Military Psychology and Leadership, and used his
building skills at their quarters by installing an outdoor patio and garden box
made of rocks picked up from around West Point.
With Rob’s orders to Vietnam, the family returned to Muskogee, where both sets
of parents lived, and their youngest son, Stephen, was born. As advisor to the
Vietnamese Army in Phu Yen province, Robert, always pragmatic, initiated
“Operation Neckerchief,” with assistance from friends in his hometown. They sent
red neckerchiefs for friendly troops to wear to distinguish them from the Viet
Cong. Robert later went to Command & General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth,
KS, and stayed on to teach in the Department of Command. Robert’s passion for
flying and aviation education continued in Kansas with the addition of a
commercial pilot's license. Another outdoor patio was engineered and
constructed. During a Korean tour as battalion commander, Robert re-kindled his
tennis talent and detoured to Japan for a men’s doubles tennis tournament that
he and his partner won. Returning to Ft. Knox as a battalion commander, he took
time to build a falcon aviary for daughter Carolyn behind their Fifth Avenue
housing, even though he was not a bird enthusiast. His last military move was
west, to Boise, ID, for recruiting duty, retiring from there as a lieutenant
colonel in 1976.
After retirement, Robert combined his
teaching and business expertise with his love of flying and spent nine years in
the aviation business as a flight center owner/operator, instructor, and charter
pilot. Covering the mountain west area, he flew
professional rodeo cowboys, congressmen, TV reporters, “Feds” looking for drug
growers, firefighters, ecologists and anyone who needed quick transportation. He
started a fog-seeding operation to clear the skies for the airlines flying into
the Boise airport, with his sons assisting by dropping the dry ice from the
airplane into the fog.
In 1985, Robert and Jean moved back to their roots in Muskogee, OK, where Robert
employed his leadership skills running the family’s land and oil and gas
businesses. With all five children graduating from Oklahoma State University,
Robert found it easier to travel to football games and visit his children by
flying his personal airplane, with his licensed co-pilot Jean as navigator. Some
people went for Sunday drives; Robert went for Sunday lunch anywhere he could
fly to. Robert was proud of his 4,500 accident-free flying hours and, before age
affected his flying ability, decided to sell the airplane, to the dismay of all
those who flew with him. Building projects now incorporated remodeling Jean’s
old family homestead to accommodate an extended family that included 20
grandchildren.
In 2004, after celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, Robert was diagnosed
with multiple myeloma. Slowing down but never quitting, he stayed active:
traveling, volunteering at church, growing corn, supporting political campaigns,
and reviewing books. In 2009, Robert and Jean went back to West Point three
times in one year—for his 55th class reunion, for his grandson Jeffrey
Laughlin’s graduation, and for Jeffrey’s wedding in the Cadet Chapel in
December.
Robert’s greatest legacy was his family,
built on a firm foundation. They loved the military life, treasured his
leadership by example, respected his hard work and service to others, shared in
his joy of flying and love of a good time, and admired his steadfast devotion to
his wife of 57 years. Surrounded by wife and children, on March 22, 2011, the
“small town Southern man” flew home to the glory of God.
— His family and friends
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