Robert Frank Baird
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Services for Robert Frank Baird will be held Thursday, at 1 p.m., at Samuel Chapel Baptist Church with the Bishop Tommie Rogers officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery with Clark’s Memorial Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Baird, 77, of Memphis, Tenn., died Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, at Baptist Hospital, East Memphis, Tenn. He was self employed with Bair’s Realty Company. Mr. Baird was born Jan. 22, 1934 in Benton County. He was the second of seven children and the first son born to the late Robert and Ruby Baird.
He began his education at the one-room Samuel Chapel Grammar School. In 1945, he enrolled at Old Salem High School, the new high school for “colored” children, a school for which he and his father and younger brother helped to secure the lumber from a discarded army facility in Grenada. At Old Salem, he played basketball, was a member of the FFA Club, Hi-Y Club, and Boy Scouts. He enjoyed learning parliamentary procedure and participated in oratorical contests and debates in school. He also learned to wire houses for electricity and wired several houses in Benton County under the supervision of his teacher. After completing the 11th grade, Robert moved to Memphis, Tenn., to live with his sister Lucille and her husband Joe, and attended Booker T. Washington High School. He graduated in 1953.
Math has always fascinated Robert Frank, and he decided he wanted to be an engineer. He enrolled in the Milwaukee School of Engineering and completed one year before he was drafted into the U.S. Army where he served for two years, including a tour of duty in Germany.
Robert Frank later moved back to Memphis and enrolled in Memphis State University where he earned a degree in accounting and real estate. He became a top insurance salesperson with Universal Life Insurance Company. Later he opened his own business, Bair’s Realty Company which he operated until his illness. He was an entrepreneur and was proud that he never worked for anyone else the rest of his life.
He was also interested in community and civil rights affairs. He never lost his interest in the hometown people of Benton County. He once outfitted the baseball team by buying balls, gloves and bats for the team. In Memphis during the height of the civil rights movement, Robert Frank joined the Memphis Branch of the NAACP and served for a while as vice-president. He traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1963 and participated in the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
Robert Frank loved his family dearly. They were a very important part of his life, and he rarely missed a family gathering. He cherished the opportunity to fellowship with his loved ones. Even though he was a man of few words, his presence was always strong and there was a sense of completion once he arrived.
Survivors include his wife and loving caregiver, Charlotte Evans Baird of Memphis, Tenn.; one son, Timothy Baird of Memphis, Tenn.; five daughters: Rhonda Lee of Chicago, Ill., Pamela Baird, Paula Baird Robertson, Kimberly Baird, Timothy Baird and Candace Baird, all of Memphis, Tenn.; one brother, Teaster T. Baird and his wife Frances of Ashland; three sisters: Melba Baird Clark of Meridian, Doris Baird of Houston, Texas, and Robin Baird Price of Memphis, Tenn.; nine grandchildren; 10 nieces; seven nephews; one brother-in-law, Joseph D. Elliott of Memphis, Tenn.; and, a host of cousins and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Ruby Baird; three sisters: Flora Mason, Chester Ann Douglas, and Lucille Baird Elliott; and one brother, Marvin L. Baird.
Visitation will be Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the church.