Dr. Bob M. Fannin

Bobby and his twin brother, Billy, were born to Ollie and Oliver Fannin in Midland, Texas on June 9, 1922. The twins were premature and not expected to survive infancy so they were named Billy and Bobby, names their mother thought were cute for the little boys. Both survived to grow to be long tall Texans. They grew up with their older brother Oliver in Fort Worth, graduated from Polytechnic High and went to The University of Texas where Bob played on the basketball team. His name was legally corrected to Bob Meredith just before graduating UT and joining the U.S. Navy. After his Navy service he returned to UT for graduate school. Bob married Martha Ellen Stewart on June 2, 1947 at the Broadway Presbyterian Church in Ft. Worth. They moved to Ithaca, N.Y. to attend Cornell University and then back to UT where Bob received his Ph.D. in 1956. The family moved to Albuquerque where he served on the faculty of the University of New Mexico. In 1958 the family returned to Austin and Bob joined the UT Austin Electrical Engineering faculty. He retired from UT in the late 1980s.

Bob always had a positive view of life with a quick wit and sense of humor. Bob was a charter member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church where he served as an Elder. Bob played bridge with many dear friends and loved to travel. An eagle scout as a youth, he volunteered for many years with the boy scouts and girl scouts as an adult. However, his favorite activity was spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Bob was preceded in death by his wife, Martha, parents, Ollie Coffee Fannin and Oliver W. Fannin, and brothers, Oliver W. Fannin, Jr. and Bill B. Fannin.

He is survived by daughters, Susan Fannin, Janet Fannin, Ann Fannin of Austin and son, William Fannin and his wife, Valerie Foster Fannin, of Odessa, granddaughter, Addley Fannin, of Fairbanks, Alaska, and grandson, Stewart Fannin, of Austin.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock until seven o’clock in the evening, on Sunday, the 7th of July 2013, at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas.

A funeral service will be conducted at three o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, the 8th of July 2013, at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 3003 Northland Drive, Austin, Texas. A private interment will follow in Austin Memorial Park, Austin, Texas.

Condolences may be sent to www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com.