Robert Edwin Harper

Robert Edwin Harper was born May 23rd, 1946 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, the first son of Edwin W. Harper of Piedmont, CA and Mabel Whitehead of Dean Bridge, Hepworth, Yorkshire, England. In being named Robert, he continued the Irish Harper family tradition of naming the first son Robert, which had been the tradition in each generation going back at least to Robert Harper born in Co. Monaghan, Ireland in 1767.

At just under six months old, Robert and his mother were seen off by family at Southampton, England aboard the Queen Elizabeth, sister ship to the Queen Mary, bound for New York at 8:15am on November 6th, 1946. The passenger list shows Mrs. M. Harper and Master R.E. Harper arriving NYC on November 11th, 1946. They then embarked on the Pennsylvania Railroad on November 13th, 1946 for a journey in several railroad line across the entire country in route to their destination of Oakland, CA.

Robert Harper, who worked in the fleet leasing industry since 1971, passed away at his home in Chandler, Ariz., on June 16, 2022 in Arizona, following a three-year battle with multiple myeloma. He was 74.

Harper retired in 2017 after working as the commercial fleet sales manager at Courtesy Chevrolet and Isuzu Truck Fleet Sales Group in Phoenix, Ariz.

Prior to relocating to Arizona, Harper worked in Memphis, Tenn., as the senior vice president and general manager of Dobbs Fleet Leasing, Inc., responsible for the company's overall growth and profitability. He worked at Dobbs Fleet Leasing from 2003 to 2008.

Earlier, Harper worked for LeasePlan USA, where he served as vice president and general manager of LeasePlan ADVANTAGE, an outsourcing program focused on serving smaller fleets providing ancillary services such as maintenance management, fuel programs, license & title, accident management, and driver record management. He worked at LeasePlan USA from 1996-2003.

Harper started his fleet management career in 1981 at US Fleet Leasing holding a variety of positions in sales and marketing. In 1991, Harper relocated to Boston following his promotion to regional sales manager for US Fleet Leasing, where he had sales responsibility for the New England states.

He was a 1966 graduate of California State University, Hayward. Following graduation Harper worked as broker at Merrill Lynch and as a sales representative for Pfizer.

An avid tennis and passionate pickle ball player and pickle ball advocate for his community of Sun Lakes, AZ. Harper is survived by his wife Connie and his brother David.