Robert "Red" Gaston Poole Jr.

Red was a lifelong resident of Wake County. His early years were spent in the Mt. Moriah Community in Garner. He started school at Swift Creek Elementary where his mother was teaching. The family moved to Cary in 1940 and Red started high school. He graduated from Cary High School in 1944, started summer school at Campbell College, and later joined the Navy during WWII. After the war, he re-enrolled at Campbell College, graduating in 1949, and entered Wake Forest College, graduating in 1951 with a degree in Business Administration. He married Barbara (Bobbie) Reaves Byrd, formerly of Duplin County, in September 1954 and they have always lived in Cary. They were long-time, faithful members of First Baptist Church in Cary and Red was a devoted member of the Parham-Dry Sunday School Class.

Red liked to work and enjoyed a long career building houses, managing rental homes, buying and selling real estate, buying and selling used cars, and managing his farms in eastern North Carolina. He was a “horse trader” at heart and enjoyed buying, selling, negotiating, and enjoyed going to auction sales to buy cars, equipment, real estate and miniature horses. He will be remembered for his generosity and his wonderful sense of humor.

Survivors include his devoted wife of 68 years, Barbara (Bobbie) Poole; sons, Robert Morgan Poole and Joseph Winfield Poole (Robin) of Raleigh; and his grandchildren, Courtney of Apex and Evan of Cary.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Friday, September 9, 2022 at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home in Cary.

Graveside services will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, September 10, 2022 at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, 3000 E. Garner Rd., Raleigh, NC 27610.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina, PO Box 127, Lake Waccamaw, NC 28450 or to the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, PO Box 338, Thomasville, NC 27361.

Brown-Wynne Cary is in charge of the arrangements.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.BrownWynneCary.com for the POOLE family.