Robert Gordon Zweigart

Robert G. (“Bob”) Zweigart, age 83, died at Maysville, Kentucky, after a long bout with Parkinson’s Disease, on 9 March 2018, survived by his devoted wife of 61 years, Jacqueline (“Jackie”) Lee Ray Zweigart. Bob was born on June 16, 1934 in Hollywood, California, the son of Alice Bissett Zweigart and John B. (“Jack”) Zweigart, both Maysville natives. Jack died in 1938 in Los Angeles. The family returned to Maysville after Jack’s death. In 1941, Alice was remarried to Eugene C. “Gene” Royse and they continued to raise Alice’s children in Maysville. Alice died in 1984. Gene died in 1990.

Besides his parents, Bob was preceded in death by his brother, Lewis Doniphan (“Donie”) Zweigart of Maysville who died at age 14 in 1952; his sisters, Jacqueline and Jean Zweigart; his brothers, John and William Zweigart, all of California; and cousins Juanita Z. Hargett, Gordon Zweigart, and Betty Z. Henson, all of Aberdeen, Ohio; as well as his sister-in-law, Martha Schubert Vimont.

In addition to Jackie, Bob was survived by their children, retired attorney Steven (“Steve”) Royse Zweigart (Barbara) of Maysville and Suzanne Lee Zweigart, a veterinarian living in Park City, Utah. Also surviving are his brother, Alfred Byram (“Ted”) Vimont, and his nephew, Ted B. Vimont, both of Lexington; his niece, Nancy Vimont Strickland (Joe) and his great niece, Kimberly Strickland, all of Louisville; cousins: Betsy Kirk Hiles of St. Charles, Missouri, John W. Kirk of Indianapolis, Indiana, Charles Zweigart of Seattle, Washington; and cousins: Alicia Ryan Clarke (Jez) of Suffolk, England, Andrea Zweigart of Raleigh, N.C, John Zweigart of Ripley, OH, and Friedrich D. “Fritz” Zweygart familie of Aidlingen, Germany; brother-in-law, Walter H. “Herb” Ray (Vicki) and their sons Scott (Laura), Brian (Kate) (parents of Finlay James and Tallula Lane), and Jeremy, all of Park City, Utah.

Bob was grandfather of Elizabeth Anne (“Liz Anne”) Zweigart, the daughter of Steve and Katherine “Kate” Muir Zweigart of Maysville. His step-grandchildren are Chloe Renee Richardson, of Brooklyn, New York, Cheyenne Summer Richardson Simonds (Brett), Okinawa, and John “Ashley” Catron (Amber) (parents of his step-great grandchild, Avery Wells Catron).

Bob graduated from Maysville High School (“MHS”) in 1952 and EKU in 1956. He took pride in being a “bench guard” for Coach Earle Jones’ MHS Bulldogs, a cheerleader for EKU, and the first ever member enlisted for EKU’s first golf team. His only claim to fame was scoring a 6-under par 30, with 4 deuces, tying the 9-hole course record in a golf match against WKU at its home course in Bowling Green.

After active duty as an Army officer assigned to the 436th AAA Missile Battalion for surface to air missile training at White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico, at Ft. Bliss, Texas, and at Travis Air Force Base in California, Bob served four years’ Reserve duty in a military police unit in Lexington and quartermaster company in Maysville. He enrolled in the University of Kentucky College of Law, graduating and being admitted to practice law in Kentucky in 1961 and in Ohio in 1970. He then returned to Maysville to practice law for 53 years with family attorneys: his step-father, Gene Royse (until his death in 1990), his cousin, Charles L. “Chuck” Kirk (until his death in 1991) his son, Steve; and with partners M. Susan Brammer and W. Kelly Caudill.

Bob retired in 2015 from 53 years of small town lawyering at Maysville in Kentucky and Ohio trial courts, Kentucky appellate courts, federal District Courts, and the Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals. His public service included Maysville City Attorney for 35 years with nine successive Mayors, beginning with Thomas Tex McDonald; attorney for Maysville’s Urban Renewal Agency; President of the Municipal Attorneys Association of Kentucky; Master Commissioner of Mason Circuit Court; and President of the Mason County Bar Association. He was appointed to several standing committees of the Kentucky Bar Association. At various times, he represented the Boards of Education in Bracken, Mason, and Robertson Counties, and for the last twenty-five years of his career he was legal counsel for the Maysville-Mason County Industrial Development Authority.

Bob was a life-long Presbyterian who served as deacon, elder, and Sunday School superintendent and teacher, and was active in numerous community and charitable organizations, as officer of Maysville Rotary Club and Country Club, Hayswood Hospital Foundation, Licking Valley College Development Corporation, Maysville-Mason County Public Library, the Humane Society of Mason County, as an original director of Meadowview Regional Hospital, and as Maysville City Commissioner and member of the Mason County Joint Planning Commission. He was most proud of his 45-years’ service in Rotary, and of his role as founding President of, and working with many community leaders to create the Limestone Family YMCA. Bob was honored by the Mason County Jaycees as Outstanding Young Man, by Rotary as a Paul Harris Fellow, by MHS and by EKU as a distinguished alumnus, and was elected to the Law Journal staff in the UK College of Law.

Visitation will be at First Presbyterian Church from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Friday, 16 March 2018, with funeral to commence at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, 17 March 2018, officiated by Rev. James Dougans. After the service, there will be a reception at the Church. Services are entrusted and arranged by Knox and Brothers Funeral Home in Maysville. Burial will be at the Maysville Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be donated to First Presbyterian Church of Maysville at 21 West Third Street, to Limestone Family YMCA, Inc., at 1080 U.S. Highway 68, Maysville, to the Hospice of Hope, at 909 Kenton Station Drive, Maysville, or to other charities of choice.