Robert Lee Travis 78, of Tallahassee died Monday, March 19. Born October 9, 1939 on a farm located 5 miles outside of Vidalia in Toombs County Georgia. He was the son of the late Robert and Sarah Cook Phillips Travis. Robert “Bob” attended Blanche Ely High School, Pompano Beach, Florida, earning his Diploma in 1957; attended Clark University, Atlanta, Georgia and received his Bachelor of Arts, 1962. While still at Clark University he participated in the sit-in in Atlanta and went to Jail for the first time where he shared a cell with A.D. King, the brother of Martin Luther King. After graduating from college in 1962, Bob volunteered for the Peace Corps where he served in Ethiopia. After leaving the Peace Corps and returning to the states, he entered the military in 1965 serving with the First Calvary Division, Air Mobile, 8th Engineers in South Vietnam, receiving an Honorable Discharge in 1967. Following his discharge he then attended law school at Howard University School of Law, Washington, D.C. where he earned his Juris Doctor, in1969.
In 1964, he met Freida through a law school classmate. They were married in June of 1968 and moved to Tallahassee in 1972. He served as the first statewide director of Florida Legal Services; also was the Executive Director and Founder of Florida Rural Legal Services; was the Executive Director (appointed by Gov Rubin Askew) of the Division of Community Services, Florida Department of Community Affairs.
Bob has an innate commitment to community and the melding of civil rights and social justice. He worked as transition coordinator for inmates at Wakulla Correctional Institution.
He was member of professional associations including: The Florida Bar, National Bar Association; Blackboard Journal; The Barrister Association founding member; Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity; Florida Bar Legal Aid committee; Gadsden County Bar Association; Florida Bar Student Education and Admission to the Florida Bar Committee; the Florida Bar Foundation; Second Judicial Circuit Nominating Committee; Second Judicial Pro Bono Committee; Governor’s Council on Indian Affairs Founder and Secretary; Florida Endowment Fund for Higher Education; Gadsden County Chamber of Commerce; District Human Rights Advocacy Committee; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity; founder of Legal Services of North Florida; State Action Council; NAACP, Tallahassee Branch; Tallahassee Urban League; Florida Voters League; Florida Family Planning Council; Community Action Council of West Palm Beach; Florida Rural Services Board of Directors; Governor’s Task Force of Housing and Community Development; Florida Task Force on Corrections; and National Association of Economic Opportunity, serving all these organizations in many capacities.
He has had an outstanding career, including: his private practice in Quincy, Legal Services of North Florida; Professional Experience Horizon Communities in Prison; Inside Coordinator; Knowles Marks & Randolph P.A.; and he was the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. He currently was the President of the Tallahassee Branch of the NAACP and was working as a paralegal.
Bob is preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, Felton Phillips. Edward Phillips, Jim L. Travis and two sisters, Jennie Ruth Herring and Catherin Lampkin. He leaves to cherish his memories Frieda and his daughter Natasha and Son Eric and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
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