Robert Paul "Bob" Bynum, World War II Veteran, Social Security retiree and volunteer extraordinaire, died October 16, 2010. Mr. Bynum, born June 13, 1921, in Oneonta, Alabama, was the son of Jasper Bynum and Beulah Moore Bynum. In addition to his parents he was predeceased by brother Ralph Moore Bynum and wife Norma Brown Bynum. Mr. Bynum graduated as valedictorian in 1938 from Blount County High School, Oneonta, Alabama, and later from Massey Business College, Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Snead Junior College, Boaz, AL; University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and American University, Washington, D.C. From 1942 to 1945 he served in the Pacific in military intelligence for an Army Air Corps B-25 bomb group. In 1948 Mr. Bynum began his career with the Social Security Administration in Montgomery, Alabama, as a Field Assistant Trainee and retired 32 years later as Deputy Commissioner, Programs, Baltimore, Maryland, the top career position in the agency. In 1980 Mr. Bynum returned to Alabama and began his new career as volunteer extraordinaire. He lent his time and expertise to the White House Conference on Aging; a local radio show called "People and Issues"; UAB Center for Aging; Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation; Literacy Councils of Central Alabama and Blount County; Positive Maturity and the Blount County Retired Seniors Volunteer Program; State of Alabama Commision on Aging; and Executive Service Corps of Birmingham. A life-long member of the United Methodist Church, he taught the Seekers Sunday Class at Lester Memorial, was a delegate to Annual, Jurisdictional and General Conferences and served on local and district boards in addition to the North Alabama Conference Board of Pensions, North Alabama Conference Foundation and Children's Home of Alabama and West Florida. He worked with the Blount County Historical Society, Blount County Project Pride, Community Arts Council of Blount County, Blount County-Oneonta Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Central Alabama and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. His voice was identified with Blount County Radio Scholars Bowl for over 20 years as moderator and planner of the radio matches between the students of seven county high schools. Mr. Bynum was the recipient of numerous professional and volunteer awards, including the Robert M. Ball Leadership Award from the Social Security Administration in 1979; his "Recognition of Exemplary Volunteer Service" by President Ronald Reagan in a White House ceremony in 1984; induction into the Alabama Senior Citizens Hall of Fame in 1996; the establishment by the UAB Center for Aging in 2005 of the Robert P. Bynum Award given annually to honor and recognize adults 75 years or older; and the 2009 Blount County-Oneonta Chamber of Commerce Pat Bellew Outstanding Citizen.
[Birmingham News, October 18, 2010]