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Parkersburg News/Sentinel
Parkersburg, WV
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Robert L. “Bob” Staats
Robert L. "Bob" Staats, 84, of Ravenswood, left this life on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. Born the second son of the late Glen C. Staats and Anita M. (Winter) Staats on Sept. 20, 1926, in Charleston, he was raised on his family's Jackson County dairy farm in West Virginia.
Bob was a Protestant by faith. He graduated from Ripley High School with the class of 1944. He then enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and saw action with the 2-4 Marines in the Pacific Theatre on Guam, Saipan, and Okinawa during WWII. He was awarded the Purple Heart. He continued to serve in the post-war occupation of Japan. He was a 1949 graduate of West Virginia University and began his teaching career in the secondary schools in Wood County, W.Va. He was the faculty director of the HI-Y Club at Parkersburg High School and was the county's first guidance counselor. While teaching, he started to also sell insurance with The Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company. With his good friend, Denver Barker, he co-founded the Protective Insurance Agency in Parkersburg and continued in the insurance field the rest of his career. He held positions of field marketing representative and underwriter with the St. Paul Fire and Marine and other companies. He was underwriting manager at Inland Mutual Insurance Company in Huntington, W.Va. prior to founding the Jackson County Insurance Agency in Ravenswood in 1978. He also worked with the Elkins Insurance Agency in Milton, W.Va., and taught AAI Insurance Courses. Bob was a past secretary of the Jackson County Development Authority and a past president (and Melvin Jones Fellow award recipient) of the Ravenswood Lions Club. He was past President of the Exchange Club of Parkersburg and a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6669 of Ravenswood. He also was a member of the Disabled American Veterans, the American Legion, the Moose Club and the Masonic Order.
He was a long-time fan of the Cleveland Indians and also of the Oakland Raiders. He enjoyed reading, music, card-playing and jokes, comedy and witty humor. In addition to his parents and grandparents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, James A. Staats and George Edgar Staats, as well as two sisters, Sondra (Larry) Cook and Linda Mullins. He is survived by his loving and caring wife of 60 years, Anna L. Perrine Staats of Ravenswood; along with daughters, Anita R. (Wayne) Brandon of Rockvale, Tenn., Jane A. (Paul) Elkins of Parkersburg; and son, Robert L. (Annie) Staats II of Ravenswood. Surviving siblings include sisters Sharon (Herb) Adams of Dunnellon, Fla., Judy Brown of Dublen, Calif., Lana (Bob) Lowe of Parkersburg, Carolyn (Delmas) Fields of Staats Mill, W.Va., and brother, Stacy (Gail) Staats of Gay, W.Va. He is also survived by ten grandchildren, David Brandon, Mary (Tyrone) Brandon-Fitzpatrick, Anna (Eddie) Bozeman, Sarah Brandon, Joshua Brandon and Michael Brandon, all of Tennessee, along with Kristi Elkins of Lexington, Ky., Cynthia (Curtis) Elkins and Daniel Elkins of Parkersburg, and Taylor Combs of Ravenswood. He also has two great-grandchildren, Amaya Elkins and Ciara Elkins of Parkersburg, and also leaves many nephews, nieces, great nephews and nieces, extended family, neighbors and friends. Services will be held at noon on Monday at Roush Funeral Home, Ravenswood, with Pastor Scott Mapes officiating. Burial will follow in Ravenswood Cemetery with full military rites provided by Jackson County Marine Corps League and Ravenswood VFW Post 6669. Family, friends and neighbors may visit the family at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. Sunday and one hour prior to service on Monday. Memorials may be made to the Ravenswood Lions Club, P.O. Box 1072, Ravenswood, WV 26164
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West Virginia Pioneers
1926 - 2010 (84 years)
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