Robert Best Obituary

ROBERT (BOB) BEST The Best Man- Friends, associates, and anyone who knew Robert (Bob) Best would agree that he was one of the "best" men they ever met. Bob was a gentleman in the true sense of the word and treated everyone with dignity, and respect. He was honest, kind, generous, and involved in many charitable organizations and causes in the Santa Fe community. Bob passed away on October 15, 2014 at his home in Santa Fe after a lengthy illness. Marylou Best, his loving wife of sixty-one years, was at his bedside when he slipped away from us. Robert Allen Best was born on October 25, 1931 in Chestertown, Maryland, to Donald and Arlene Best. Bob had one sibling, a sister, Kay. Before high school Robert attended St. Paul's preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland, where he became an accomplished Lacrosse player. Later, Bob would introduce Lacrosse to Franklin and Marshall College. They have a successful Lacrosse program to this day. Bob was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. He went on to high school at Kenwood High near Baltimore, Maryland, where he met his future wife, Marylou Gray. They served together on their high school council, but did not become romantically involved until some years later when they were in college. Bob graduated with honors from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952 with a sociology major. Bob and Marylou were married in 1953 and lived for a time in Drexelhill, Pennsylvania. One of Bob's first significant jobs was with the Piasecki Helicopter Corporation. He worked as an expeditor of work and materials in the factory, wanting to know the business from the ground up. He also did special projects for the company's founder, Frank Piasecki. Bob survived a helicopter crash while working for Piasecki. In 1954 he accepted a position with Martin Marietta Corporation in Baltimore, Maryland. Later he was selected to be part of a small contingent of Martin Marietta employees to go to Denver, Colorado, for the purpose of purchasing land and establishing a research, design, and manufacturing facility. Promoted to Chief Administrative Engineer he oversaw the titan Intercontinental Ballistic Missile development program and other space initiatives. His last position with Martin Marietta was Executive Director of Technology and Operations for all the data centers within Martin Marietta Corporation. Through his experiences and work with Piasecki Helicopter Corp. and Martin Marietta, Bob developed a working understanding of aeronautical engineering concepts. He managed to survive a second aircraft mishap when a seaplane he was flying in crash landed into the Chesapeake Bay. Bob worked a total of twenty-two years for Martin Marietta. From Martin Marietta he responded to a nationwide search for an individual to head and advance the Los Angeles County's Data Processing program. At the time this was the largest data processing organization in the nation. Robert was selected for this position from five hundred applicants. He implemented programs that streamlined and improved county data processing in all departments, including the sheriff's department, county central jail and the fire department. He was elected President of the Los Angeles County Management Council, which represented the managers of 56 county departments, who, in turn, oversaw the work of 80,00 employees. One of the departments was Health Services, which ran 8 hospitals and numerous other health facilities. Bob spent 3 years serving the citizens of Los Angeles County. Bob's successes with the L.A. County became known throughout the state and, indeed, the country. As a result he was approached by an individual who was seeking to recruit top people for executive positions for the Toyota automobile company. He was offered and accepted a position as the Director of Data Processing for Toyota Motor Sales, USA. One important innovation Bob introduced to Toyota was the use of barcodes for parts and automobile inventory tracking and control. Robert introduced many other important, progressive, and cost saving programs to Toyota. Through merit and hard work, Bob worked his way up through the corporate ranks and retired in 1994 as Corporate Officer, Group Vice President of Finance and Administration and Senior Advisor to the President of Toyota Motor Sales, USA. Robert was responsible for the departments of purchasing, human resources, finance, tax, legal, as well as 8 others. Bob was chairperson of Toyota's "TEAM" (Toyota Equal Access for Minorities) program and Chairperson of the Board for the Los Angeles Automotive Training Center, a joint venture between Toyota and the Los Angeles Urban League, which provided automotive repair training for minority candidates. On their trip to Denver, Colorado, to begin work on the New Martin Marietta facility, Bob and Marylou took the long way around and passed through Santa Fe, NM. They immediately fell in love with "The City Different". The Bests eventually bought property in Santa Fe and built a small vacation home where they spent lots of vacation and off-time. When Bob retired from Toyota in April, 1994, they moved to Santa Fe permanently and built a delightful home. Bob immediately began volunteering time and energy to a variety of charitable causes. He was selected to be the Vice Chairperson of the Institute of the Institute of American Indian Arts Foundation (IAIA) and was a Board member of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWIA). In 2008 Bob received the Povika award from SWIA for his lifetime achievements with respect to his work with SWIA. Robert was picked to be the President of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Human Society from 1999 through 2000. While in this capacity Bob arranged for the Beaver Toyota family to purchase the old animal shelter property on Cerrillos Rd. That money went toward the building of the new shelter. Bob and his wife also made generous contributions to the shelter project as well. Bob was a member of Board of Directors for United Way of Santa Fe County for a number of years attending his last meeting a week or so before he left us. He was a valued member of the Santa Fe Speakeasy men's discussion group. Other accolades, associations, and awards bestowed on Bob Best over the years include: Former Officer and Board Director of the Los Angeles Urban League Former Director of the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund Named Presidential Distinguished Fellow of the Franklin and Marshall College in 1991 Received Corporate Leadership Award from the Southern California Business Council in 1992 Received Alumni of The Year award from Franklin and Marshall College in 1993 Former Board of Directors member of the Japanese-Hispanic Institute Included as charter member of the Franklin and Marshall Society of Distinguished Alumni, 2007 March, 1975, he was commended by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for outstanding leadership as Director of the Data Processing Department Robert Best is survived by his wife, Marylou Best, his sister, Kay Best, and nephew, Eric Best and his Family. He will be missed by all who knew him. When the time comes, in the future, Bob's ashes and those of his wife, Marylou, will be released, together, on a mountain top near their home. A memorial celebration of Bob's life will be held sometime in the spring of 2015.