Robert Gentry Haley

Robert Gentry Haley, 88, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, passed away peacefully June 10, 2024. He was born in Jasper, Alabama, on July 23, 1935, to the late Robert Paul Haley and Gwendolyn Gentry Haley. He was an extraordinary father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Gwen Haley, his beloved wife of 64 years, Vivian Jane Cooper Haley, and great-granddaughter, Vivian Nora Lukens. He is survived by his children, Don and Joy Haley of Houston, Texas, Karen and John Lukens of Lilburn, Georgia, and David Haley of Middle Grove, New York; his grandchildren, David and Kjersti Lukens, Libby and Jon Bollier, Ben Haley, Sarah Haley, Madison Haley, Anna Haley, and Lauren Haley; his great-grandchildren, Erik Lukens, Sullivan Bollier, Abigail Lukens, and Amelia Bollier.

Bob grew up in the Birmingham area, attending six schools in eight years. He graduated from Ensley High School, where he met the love of his life, Vivian Jane Cooper. He attended Auburn University, then known as Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API), graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in June 1957. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant USAR (Signal Corps) through ROTC. He started his Bell System career in Birmingham, Alabama, before taking a Military Leave to serve active-duty from January 1958 until January 1960. He taught at Signal School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and was deployed to Okinawa, Japan, where he commanded the 999th Signal Support Company. Bob attained the rank of Captain and was honorably discharged in September 1965. Upon his return to the States, Bob had assignments in various departments of Southern Bell and AT&T in Alabama, Washington, DC, and Georgia. In 1986, he retired from AT&T Information Systems in New Jersey as Vice President – Operations Planning. He rejoined BellSouth that same year, serving in several executive roles, including Vice President for BellSouth International in Australia, prior to his appointment as President of BellSouth Information Systems. Bob retired from BellSouth in December 1995.

Bob and Jane were married on September 7, 1957. Through the family’s numerous moves over the years, Bob was always an active member of the Methodist Church. A lifelong Methodist, he was a member of Tucker First United Methodist Church in Tucker, Georgia, for many years. He actively served for over 45 years in appointed and elected roles in lay administration of the church at local, district, and conference levels. In addition to being a Life Member of the Auburn Alumni Association, Bob was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the School of Human Sciences at Auburn University. He and Jane loved to travel and did so as often as possible, visiting much of the U.S. and many foreign countries with a group of close friends.

Services will be held Saturday, June 22, 2024, at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 4882 LaVista Road, Tucker, Georgia. Visitation will be from 2:00-3:00, with the Memorial Service at 3:00. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Bob’s memory be made to Murphy-Harpst Children’s Center (www.murphyharpst.org/give).