Notes for: Robert Monroe Bodine
The following information was edited from a file by Samuel Joseph Bodine, Robert's brother.
Robert Monroe Bodine was the first child of Clarence and Esther. His birth date is November 29, 1920. He died at Barnes Hospital April 20, 1980. He died just a few months before turning 60 years of age.
Robert grew up and attended school in Marston. Both he and Kenneth graduated in the class of 1939. Robert hated school, but with Esther's insistence and some patient teachers, and a love for basketball (in which he excelled), he earned a diploma. Not only was Robert good in basketball, but he was an excellent baseball player. After graduation, he worked around Marston at different jobs. He was a member of the local National Guard when Hitler began to gobble up the countries of Europe. Congress passed a military training act which began preparing young men in the country as a precaution against an attack by Germany. As a result of this act, the National Guard was mustered into service for a year. Both Kenneth and Robert went to Camp Robinson, Arkansas with the local unit. Their year would have expired around Christmas 1941, but then the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. War was then declared against both Japan and Germany. Neither Kenneth nor Robert got out of the Service until late in 1945.
While in the Service, Robert served some time on the West Coast then went overseas as an engineer to the China-Burma-India theater of operations. It was a hellish place to live, let alone face an armed enemy. Robert remained overseas about two years and then came back to Marston. He had some difficulty adjusting to civilian life; yet he stayed and worked around Marston until the early l950's when he went to St. Louis and worked on the dock for Gordon's Truck Line. In St. Louis, he met and married Evelyn Verbel Lamp. They married in the late fifties. Robert and Evelyn did not have any children, but Evelyn had a daughter by a previous marriage, Susan. Susan grew up and married a man by the name of George McKinnley and they had three children Ponda, Tommy, and Brenda.
Robert developed a heart condition and died three or four years after that initial attack. At his death, Susan and her family lived around Poplar Bluff. Three or four years after Robert passed away, Evelyn died. Both Evelyn and Robert are buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sikeston in the Bodine plot where Clarence and Esther are both buried. Susan, her children, and her grandchildren still probably live around Poplar Bluff, Missouri. (Samuel hasn't seen them since Evelyn's funeral.)
This is a brief summary of the life of Robert Bodine. He was free-hearted and lived life to its fullest. He wasn't a worrier and never looked back. He loved life, his family, baseball, and a good bet on anything. He was easy to get along with and loved a good laugh. Robert was well-liked and even served one term as mayor of Marston.
From Ronny Bodine:
Robert Bodine was a member of a local National Guard unit when it was mobilized for service during World War II and served from 23 Dec 1940 to 1 Dec 1945. He served in the China-Burma-India theater of operations and after the war worked in Marston and St. Louis.
From Social Security Records:
Robert Monroe Bodine applied for a SSN in Jan 1950 and reported he was born 28 Nov 1920 in Marston, Missouri, son of Clarence E. & Mary E. (Latimer) Bodine. He died in April 1980. His last residence was St. Louis, Missouri.
1st wife--1953--LORA SCOTT
From New Madrid County, Missouri Marriage Records:
Robert Monroe Bodine, 32, of Marston, New Madrid County AND Lora Nall Sloas, 30, of Couslan, New Madrid County, were married 31 Oct 1953 at New Madrid by J. R. Bullington, Minister. [Note: She was Lora Scott, 18, of New Madrid when she married John L. Sloas (1918-2007) on 27 July 1940 at Portageville, New Madrid County, Missouri. They divorced in June 1946 (Sikeston Standard of 18 June 1946). In April 1940, Lora N. Scott, 18, born in Mississippi, lived with her brother-in-law and sister, Charles & Flaudie Burt, in Le Sieur, New Madrid County, Missouri.]
From The Sikeston (MO) Herald of 9 Dec 1954.
Divorces Granted. Robert M. Bodine vs. Lora Bodine.
The Daily Standard (Sikeston, MO) of 24 Oct 1964 reported on Mr. and Mrs. James Wesley Scott, aged 91 and 84, and referred to their children, including a daughter, Mrs. Lora Sloas of Canalou. The obituary of James Wesley Scott, 92, in The Daily Standard of 11 Feb 1966 named a surviving daughter, Lora Sloas of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
From Michigan Death Records:
Lora S. Sloas, born 18 Nov 1922, died 24 March 1991 in Grand Rapids, Kent County.
2nd wife--EVELENE VERBLE.
From Social Security Applications and Claims:
Evelene Lillian Verble applied for a SSN in December 1943 and reported she was born 5 July 1924 in Piggott, Arkansas, dau. of Thomas J. & Enna V. (Brown) Verble. In February 1945 she reported her name as Evelene Verble Lamp and in February 1956 as Evelene Lillian Bodine. She died February 1993. Her last residence was Saint Louis, Missouri.
Robert and Evelyne Bodine had no children.
Burials in Memorial Park Cemetery, Sikeston, Scott County, Missouri.
(For grave marker photos see Find A Grave Memorials Nos. 34246369 & 34246374)
Robert M. Bodine CPL US Army World War II Nov 28 1920 Apr 20 1980
BODINE Evelene L. Bodine 1924 1993