Person:Robert Black (35)

Photograph http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/photo/352686 http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/photo/363844

Robert Overton Black, Jr., DDS Obituary written by his step-father,CM Whitaker ("Whit") Funeral services for Dr. Robert O. Black, prominent Memphis dentist who died in his sleep Friday morning at his home 816 Eaton, will be held at 3:00 pm today at Holy Communion Episcopal Church. He was the husband of the former Harriet Howe and son of Mrs. Cornelius M. Whitaker, 1788 Peabody, and RO Black, Boise, Idaho. He is survived by three daughters: Diane, Brenda and Margaret Black.

Born May 13, 1920 in Oakland, Illinois, Dr. Black moved when a child to Memphis where he established a reputation as an outstanding student, leader and athlete. He was chosen by alumni of Battle Ground Academy and awarded through the Commercial Appeal a four-year scholarship to Battle Ground Academy at Franklin, Tennessee, from which he graduated with the honor "Best All-Around Student." During his freshman year at Southwestern, he received the rare honor of being at the same time president of the freshman class and member of the Honor Council. The following year, he was again chosen President of his class and member of the student council; and he was also an officer of the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Southwestern.

In 1943 he graduated from the University of Tennessee Dental School as president of the senior class and member of Psi Omega Dental Fraternity. After serving as a Captain in the Medical Corps attached to the Air Force, he assumed dental practice with his aunt, Dr. Ardenne Hinson, in Memphis. He was a communicant of Holy Communion Church where he served on the vestry, taught Sunday school, and assisted in the founding of the organization of the men of the church, which he chose the name for, the King's Men. He was a member of East Memphis Exchange Club, Chickasaw Country Club and the Memphis Shelby County Dental Society.

Any memorials are requested for Holy Communion Church or the East Memphis Exchange Club's work for the deaf. Interment will be in the family lot at Forest Hill Cemetery. Memphis Funeral Home.

Pallbearers: active - Frank Z. Jemison, WK Weldon, Samuel H. Mays, Dr. Ordie King, Dr. Neil Leonard, Dr. Bunyan Webb, Dr. Cleo Stevenson, William J. Armstrong; honorary - Hearn Tidwell, Dr. WF Murrah, Jr., W. Kent Jones, Louis Donaldson, III, Malcolm Hinson, Jack Billings, Harry Hill, Jr., WK Simpson

1. ↑ Personal Knowledge - Brenda Black.
2. ↑ Birth Certificate.

   Birth Certificate. Coles Co., IL

3. ↑ Death Certficate.

   Death Certficate. Shelby Co., TN

4. ↑ Obituary.

   "Obituary." Original

5. ↑ Wedding Announcement.
6. ↑ Laura Moore Black. Laura Moore Black's Notarized Family Record.
7. ↑ Raymond Finley Hughes and Howard Clift Black. William Black and his Descendents A Genealogy of the Descendents of William Black of Augusta County, VA and la. (Unpublished. Copyrighted 1973 by Hughes).