Robert Compton

Published 1:44 pm Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Robert Compton

Sept. 26, 1934–Dec. 26, 2024

Robert Harold “Bob” Compton was born at home in Milford on Sept. 26, 1934, as the third child and first son of Harold Compton and Virginia Nell Caudill Compton.

As a child, he resided at various times in the Cincinnati area, Morehead, Kentucky, and at his beloved “Farm” on Greenbrier Road in Muses Mills, Kentucky (which under his continued stewardship and has remained in the family for over one hundred years).

Bob graduated early from high school at the Breckinridge Training School at Morehead State College (now Morehead State University).

In 1957, he earned his engineering degree from the University of Kentucky, where at the Baptist Student Union he met Norma Lee Wells, the love of his life.

At UK, Bob enlisted in ROTC, and after college accepted a commission in the Army Reserve, from which he was honorably discharged as a captain of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

On March 8, 1958, Bob and Norma were married in Lexington, Kentucky, and after Norma’s graduation from nursing school, they moved to Cincinnati where he worked as an engineer for Cincinnati and Suburban Bell Telephone Company.

Deciding to change careers, Bob attended night school at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law (now part of Northern Kentucky University) while working at Bell.

In 1964, after the birth of their three children, Gregory Alan, Lisa Kay and Jeffrey Paul, Bob and Norma moved to Ironton, where Bob had taken a position as an attorney with the Edwards and Klein law firm.

In 1971, his client, Ashland Oil, hired Bob away from what had become the Edwards, Klein, Compton and Allen law firm, and in 1975, he became the first division counsel for Ashland Petroleum Company. Bob rose through the ranks at Ashland to retire in 1992 as vice president, after having traveled the world negotiating oil contracts, often with Norma accompanying.

His calm demeanor and intelligence served him well as he dealt with sheiks and Middle Eastern regimes as well as the denizens of Wall Street.

Amongst his many travels, he was present in Iran the week prior to the 1979 revolution, and at the request of the U.S. Department of State to Ashland Oil, was among the first westerners to attempt to establish contact with the Islamic Republic of Iran after the fall of the Shah.

Bob truly enjoyed working with Ashland Oil President Charlie Luellen, and he and Norma treasured traveling with Charlie and his wife, Sydney, to company engagements.

During his career, Bob was a member of the Ohio, Kentucky, Lawrence County (Ohio) and Boyd County (Kentucky) bar associations, and served on the board of the American Industrial Health Council, the Health and Environment General Committee of the American Petroleum Institute, and the environmental committees of The Conference Board and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

He also served on the non- profit boards of Ohio University Public Radio, Ohio University Trustees’ Academy, Northern Kentucky University Foundation, the South-Central Ohio AAA and its successors.

Bob served the local community as a member of the boards of the Lawrence County Children’s Home and the Lawrence County General Hospital, and was a Kiwanis Club member for many years.

After retiring from Ashland Oil, Bob served as magistrate for the Hon. David Payne in the Lawrence County Probate Court, and later worked with his close friend, Bill Dingus, and with Jeremy Clay and his other friends on the staff of the Lawrence Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) in support of the economic development of Lawrence County and the surrounding area.

Bob retired from LEDC in 2022, after many years of what he found to be his most rewarding professional association. Bob was licensed in Ohio and Kentucky, and practiced law for almost sixty years.

In Ironton, Bob and Norma made many life-long friends and were founding members of the SOWS group, who were often found in whitewater rafts, on ski slopes, boating the Ohio River, or fishing the waters of Lake Erie. Bob enjoyed the fellowship of his fellow members of the SCFC, and they in turn enjoyed his humor and consistently positive outlook on life.

The family particularly thanks Steve and Brenda Wood and Randy Bailey for their devotion and friendship of many years to Bob, all of whom traveled to attend his 90th birthday celebration in Florida.

As described by one of his grandchildren, Bob was a respected attorney and engineer, a loyal and generous friend, a lover of cars and all things mechanical, a non-stop joke teller, and a cat dad, willing together with Norma to share wisdom, to listen to any problem, to provide love and understanding, and to extend help however they could, always with a twinkle of unconditional love in their eyes and voices.

A man of faith and a strong baritone, Bob sang for many years in the choir at the First Baptist Church in Ironton.

He would often launch into song to his young children, and later to his young grandchildren and great-grandchildren, including short and silly songs of his own composition.

“Two Blue Eyes and Four Blue Teeth,” was a favorite ditty about a wayward Martian spaceman. Bob was an amateur poet, and was talented in pencil, particularly in drawings of automobiles and lighthouses.

His renderings of lighthouses and poems to Norma adorn the walls of their Florida home.

Bob was a loving and kind father of three, and as “Bebob,” the doting grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of seven.

He is survived by his wife Norma, his children Greg Compton (Janis), Lisa Compton Tichenor (Dave), and Jeff Compton (Lisa), his grandchildren Ryan Compton (Marcy) and Tara Compton Parsan (Neil), for whom he officiated both their weddings, Kelsey Tichenor Reynolds (Matt), Hannah Tichenor Anders (Cameron), Mattie Tichenor (fiancé Jake), and Kaylee Tichenor, and Amanda Shae Kerns (Eric) and Jeffrey Blake Compton; and his great-grandchildren, Aria Parsan, Taiman, Foster, and Shepherd Anders, and Emma, Jace, and Luke Kerns.

Bob is also survived by his sisters, Bonnie Compton Hanson, Paula Compton Schneider, and Judy Compton Scott (Jim); by his in-laws, Charlotte Wells Downing (Tom), Martha Wells Reynolds (Bob), Bert “Bope” Wells (Linda), Sharon Wells Morgan, and Christy Wells Lucas (Steve); and by numerous nieces and nephews who loved him as “Uncle Bob.”

He was predeceased by his parents, Harold Compton and Virginia Nell Caudill Compton, and by his siblings, Betty Compton Selberg and Reecie Compton.

Bob passed peacefully on Dec. 26, 2024, at his home in Florida and with family at his side. There will be no public service.

The family kindly requests any remembrances be made to The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (www.alzfdn.org), Lawrence County (Ohio) Children Services (lawrencecountydjfs.com/services), or another charity of choice.