Robert H. Meador

Bob Meador,Nashville, TN. Bob Meador, age 88, passed away in the early hours of the morning on February 3, surrounded by his wife and two children. Bob was born in Wellington, Colorado on September 9, 1926. After the death of his father when Bob was 7, his family moved to McMinnville, Tennessee where his grandfather was pastor of the Magness Memorial Baptist Church. In high school, he was an outstanding athlete. He played both basketball and football, and was part of the 1944-45 All Mid State Football team. The newspapers at the time described him as "a neat little package of dynamite". He went on to play for Tennessee Tech University and was inducted into the Warren County Sports Hall Of Fame in 1997. He remained an avid golfer and tennis player throughout his life, as well as being an enthusiastic supporter of Vanderbilt Women's basketball team and other sports teams. After serving in World War II, he married his high school sweetheart, Mildred Farless, and began a long career as an executive with Peerless Hosiery Mills in North Carolina and Chattanooga, Tennessee. They had two children: Karen Meador of Santa Fe, New Mexico and Rob Meador of New York City. After losing his wife to cancer in 1979, he met the second great love of his life, Jo Walker-Meador, then Executive Director of the Country Music Association. They married in 1981 and made their home in Nashville for the next 34 happy years, and had a winter home in Ft. Myers FL. A man of strong and unwavering faith, Bob (along with Jo) was an active member of Christ Presbyterian Church. He enjoyed volunteering at St. Thomas Hospital and was known for his kindness, gentlemanly nature, and sparkling blue eyes, which cheered so many people. Left to cherish his memory are a host of family members and dear friends, and many younger people to whom Jo and Bob were like parents or grandparents, including Trisha Walker-Cunningham and her husband Rusty, Sue Halford, and Jenny and Jon Walsh and their three girls, Reilly, Cara, and Anna. In addition to his first wife, Bob was predeceased by his father, Paul Meador; mother, Cora Meador and brother, Bill Meador. He is survived by his wife, Jo; his two children; his stepdaughter, Michelle Walker, and his nieces, Paula Testerman, Lea Gallagher, and Beth Myers. Gathering of family will be Saturday, February 7, from four o'clock until six o'clock in the evening at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home.Celebration of Life service will be held on Monday, February 9, 2015 at noon at Christ Presbyterian Church, 2323 Old Hickory Blvd., with visitation from ten o'clock until time of service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Pearl Point (formerly the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation). Visit the online obituary: www.woodlawn-roesch-pattonfh.com. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tennessean/obituary