A Tribute to Papa

By his granddaughter, Candice Gibbons

Robert Reed Hartley is my Papa, and this is a celebration of his life that gives glory to God.

Papa was born on July 14 in the record-hot summer of 1948 in Birmingham, Alabama to JC and Imogene Hartley. JC had recently returned from his time as a Marine in World War II where he saw the American Flag raised at Iwo Jima. Papa often joked he was “born down an old Alabama dirt road” when, in fact, it was a brand-new neighborhood unpaved. Papa wanted us to remember that he was born the same year Israel became a nation.

Growing up, Papa was skinny and athletic with a strong humorous side. His friends called him Bones. Born with a gift for leadership and enterprise, he had a go kart and charged kids in the neighborhood to ride it. He also started a “phone company” where he took two tin cans and connected them with a long wire so he could talk to the boy next door. Papa was known to play jokes on his younger sister, Christy. He expressed an interest in music, nature, and photography as a young teen, writing a film script, playing the guitar, and accomplishing the highest rank in the Boy Scouts as an Eagle Scout. At that time, Papa was the youngest boy to achieve this award in the state of Alabama.

Papa was accepted into the University of Alabama where he received a BS degree in business and marketing and worked as a photographer for the university, notably on the field of the Bama football team while Bear Bryant was the coach. Our family chant has been and will always be Roll Tide! Papa laughed that he had the “tough” job as yearbook photographer of selecting the prettiest girls on campus who would win the title of “Bama Belle”. Naturally, all the girls wanted to meet him.

Papa was strong, handsome, and destined for greatness. As the first in his family to graduate college, he would use his education in the business field for decades to come. When he decided to join the Marine Corps Reserves, his sister Christy cried and said, “You’ll come back mean!” but he didn’t at all. Papa served in the Marines during the Vietnam War and then served in the Army National Guard Reserves because his girlfriend’s dad was a Major who “required” him to do it in order to date her. The girl’s name was Judy. Papa met Judy (whom I call Annie) at his sister Christy’s wedding when he was 21 and she was 14. They married as soon as she graduated high school. Papa adored Annie. Some of Annie’s nicknames for Papa included “Honey” and “Sweet Pea” and “Petunia”. Papa called her “Cricket” and “Judy Bug” and “Darlin’”. For leisure, they loved hiking, old movies, cruising Sundays, and Mexican food. They were side by side in everything—renovating their first house, starting restaurants, and enjoying the fast-paced thrill of being young and ambitious. While in their twenties they became multi-millionaires and owned over forty Mexican restaurants, making two appearances in Money Magazine. Through the ups and downs of business life, they both fully gave their lives to God in 1982 and eventually sold the business.

Papa and Annie had two children: Austin and Casey. Papa was an adoring father who loved his children deeply. My mom, Casey, remembers how he would wake them up opening the blinds saying, “Can your eyes behold?” At night, she loved shooting hoops with her dad on the driveway. My uncle Austin loved going to pawn shops on Saturday mornings to look at car audio speakers, followed by meatball sub sandwiches at Subway. Papa was intentional in his love and attention, consistently there in life’s big and little moments.

Papa was not only a hard worker; he was successful and well-liked and earned the favor of many. He was the Vice President of Marketing of KinderCare Learning Centers and Sylvan Learning Centers. He served as Director of Development for CBN’s 700 Club and later moved to Branson, Missouri to be Vice President of Marketing at Silver Dollar City.

My earliest memory of Papa is listening to easy listening romance music in his lake house office with a panoramic view of Table Rock Lake. Papa eventually owned Mountain Man Nut & Fruit Company and would give all the grandchildren free samples of papaya, dates, and chocolate sesame seeds. He loved to spray whip cream out of the can into our mouths and sing the victory song when he beat us at Chinese Checkers ending with, “Hey, hey, hey, YOU LOSE!”. Sometimes he let us win so we could have the thrill of singing it, too.

Papa served on various boards and ministries, giving generously and supporting the local and international church through volunteer work and financial giving. Generosity was a trademark to Papa’s character. He gave his car to a cleaning lady and another car to a single mom, and he gave a prized jacket to a friend because they admired it. He worked hard and loved to share the blessings God gave him with others. In his later years, he worked at Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium and Museum winning Employee of the Year in 2019.

Encouragement was something Papa genuinely felt was his spiritual gift and would even encourage doctors in his visits rather than simply telling them his issues. But the quiet enemy of our souls tried hard to quiet him through decades of clinical depression. He fought hard, maintained a giving spirit, and a deep love for Jesus from his childhood to eternity.

Perhaps the greatest thing in Papa’s life was that his daily prayer and study of the Bible that never failed. We as grandchildren were consistently told that he prayed for us every day, and we would walk in his room to see his large Bible open. From celebrities and businessmen to missionaries and foreign exchange students, he was a friend to countless people, and the Hartley home was always full of guests. Papa lived the quote from the movie It’s A Wonderful Life: “No man is a failure who has friends.”

We as a family— his wife Judy; his children and their spouses, Austin and Andrea, Scotty and Casey, and us twelve grandchildren, Candice, Kelly Grace, Lyric, Bria, Allison, Jet, Norah, Angel, Ryder, Hudson, Bella, and Jordan—strive to carry on Papa’s legacy of godliness, encouragement, generosity, and love. Papa is also loved by his sister, Christy Carson, and her husband, Rick; his sister-in-law, Wendy Taylor, and her husband John; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends whom he also dearly loved.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Greenlawn Funeral Home and Life Tribute Center in Ozark, Missouri.