Robert was raised on a farm northeast of Hiawatha, KS and attended a one-room country school named Victory #37 through 7th grade, then Hiawatha schools thereafter, graduating with the class of 1958. He excelled in high school sports, often being referred to as "Big Bob" in the Hiawatha newspaper and "Pete" by his friends. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Kansas State University in 1964 and worked for a variety of flour milling, wheat, and agriculture companies during his lifetime.
Robert's work in the cereal grain chemistry profession had him moving extensively throughout the Midwest during his life with much of it at Cargill and then as an independent consultant. He held several professional positions including Director and Chairman of the Milling and Baking Division of the American Association of Cereal Chemists and Board of Trustees Wheat Quality Control.
He will be remembered as a big, charming man with a big heart who loved to talk to everyone, always positive and a good sport, always trying to improve others' lives and bring about positive change in everything he touched.
He was married to Gloria J. Tonne, August 24, 1963 in Waterloo, Iowa. The marriage later ended in divorce.
He was married to Mrs. Therese (Cunningham) Westbrook, December 18, 1982 at Wichita. They later divorced.
On June 25, 1997, Bob and Pamela Parsons-Schlappy were married. They made their home near Derby, KS.
Please note that Bob's obituary that appeared in the Sun. Dec 20, 2020 Wichita Eagle (Wichita, KS) was incorrect when it stated that he had an infant child that preceded him in death, named Jean Elizabeth. He & his wife Gloria did lose an unborn baby in early 1970, but she was never named. It was Bob's mother who had a baby that died at birth, and was named Jean Elizabeth.
Robert's work in the cereal grain chemistry profession had him moving extensively throughout the Midwest during his life with much of it at Cargill and then as an independent consultant. He held several professional positions including Director and Chairman of the Milling and Baking Division of the American Association of Cereal Chemists and Board of Trustees Wheat Quality Control.
He will be remembered as a big, charming man with a big heart who loved to talk to everyone, always positive and a good sport, always trying to improve others' lives and bring about positive change in everything he touched.
He was married to Gloria J. Tonne, August 24, 1963 in Waterloo, Iowa. The marriage later ended in divorce.
He was married to Mrs. Therese (Cunningham) Westbrook, December 18, 1982 at Wichita. They later divorced.
On June 25, 1997, Bob and Pamela Parsons-Schlappy were married. They made their home near Derby, KS.
Please note that Bob's obituary that appeared in the Sun. Dec 20, 2020 Wichita Eagle (Wichita, KS) was incorrect when it stated that he had an infant child that preceded him in death, named Jean Elizabeth. He & his wife Gloria did lose an unborn baby in early 1970, but she was never named. It was Bob's mother who had a baby that died at birth, and was named Jean Elizabeth.
Robert was raised on a farm northeast of Hiawatha, KS and attended a one-room country school named Victory #37 through 7th grade, then Hiawatha schools thereafter, graduating with the class of 1958. He excelled in high school sports, often being referred to as "Big Bob" in the Hiawatha newspaper and "Pete" by his friends. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Kansas State University in 1964 and worked for a variety of flour milling, wheat, and agriculture companies during his lifetime.
Robert's work in the cereal grain chemistry profession had him moving extensively throughout the Midwest during his life with much of it at Cargill and then as an independent consultant. He held several professional positions including Director and Chairman of the Milling and Baking Division of the American Association of Cereal Chemists and Board of Trustees Wheat Quality Control.
He will be remembered as a big, charming man with a big heart who loved to talk to everyone, always positive and a good sport, always trying to improve others' lives and bring about positive change in everything he touched.
He was married to Gloria J. Tonne, August 24, 1963 in Waterloo, Iowa. The marriage later ended in divorce.
He was married to Mrs. Therese (Cunningham) Westbrook, December 18, 1982 at Wichita. They later divorced.
On June 25, 1997, Bob and Pamela Parsons-Schlappy were married. They made their home near Derby, KS.
Please note that Bob's obituary that appeared in the Sun. Dec 20, 2020 Wichita Eagle (Wichita, KS) was incorrect when it stated that he had an infant child that preceded him in death, named Jean Elizabeth. He & his wife Gloria did lose an unborn baby in early 1970, but she was never named. It was Bob's mother who had a baby that died at birth, and was named Jean Elizabeth.
Robert's work in the cereal grain chemistry profession had him moving extensively throughout the Midwest during his life with much of it at Cargill and then as an independent consultant. He held several professional positions including Director and Chairman of the Milling and Baking Division of the American Association of Cereal Chemists and Board of Trustees Wheat Quality Control.
He will be remembered as a big, charming man with a big heart who loved to talk to everyone, always positive and a good sport, always trying to improve others' lives and bring about positive change in everything he touched.
He was married to Gloria J. Tonne, August 24, 1963 in Waterloo, Iowa. The marriage later ended in divorce.
He was married to Mrs. Therese (Cunningham) Westbrook, December 18, 1982 at Wichita. They later divorced.
On June 25, 1997, Bob and Pamela Parsons-Schlappy were married. They made their home near Derby, KS.
Please note that Bob's obituary that appeared in the Sun. Dec 20, 2020 Wichita Eagle (Wichita, KS) was incorrect when it stated that he had an infant child that preceded him in death, named Jean Elizabeth. He & his wife Gloria did lose an unborn baby in early 1970, but she was never named. It was Bob's mother who had a baby that died at birth, and was named Jean Elizabeth.
