Wayne County Outlook

Monticello, Kentucky

16 Oct 1996

Robert Clyde Underwood Sr., a former Outlook co-owner and publisher, died Saturday at his home. He was 69.

Underwood was a familiar face to most residents of Wayne County through his work at the Wayne County Outlook. For more than three decades he served in various capacities at the newspaper. It was through his work as a photographer that Underwood met so many of the newspaper patrons. He attended various meetings and events every week with camera in hand.

In fact, long after Underwood has retired from the newspaper business, people would call or come by his house to see about getting a picture taken for the paper. His photography garnered him several awards from the Kentucky Press Association (KPA). Former Outlook publisher and co-owner Stuart Simpson recalled that Underwood's photographs of a dramatic church fire in downtown Monticello brought him several KPA honors.

Underwood came to Monticello in 1952 with a new bride, the former Lytha Ann Simpson. e went to work in the family's newspaper business, beginning as the pressman.

Work was only one of the many facets of Underwood's life. He contributed to home and community with as much zest as he did at the office. He and his wife raised five children - two sons and three daughters. Underwood was active in many youth organizations. He was a former Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader and he also helped with the local Little League organization.

Underwood was a past president of the Monticello Kiwanis Club. He and his wife were faithful member of the First Christian Church, where he served as an elder, a trustee and a Sunday School teacher. Underwood retired from the newspaper in 1988, and he and his wife have traveled quite a bit the past few years.

Underwood is survived by his wife; two sons, Robert Jr. and Mickey Underwood; three daughters, Melody Ann Underwood, April West and Dawn Geralds; and two sisters, Nora Teater and Faye Gravel; and a brother, J.W. Underwood.