Bob served in the armed forces during World War II. He held the "technical" ranks of PFC, Corporal and Sergeant and was a motorpool sergeant in the Americal Division. He participated in the Bougainville campaign. While in the South Pacific, he contracted elefantitus and was sent back to the states to recooperate. He wasn't allowed to return to the South Pacific, and was stationed at Ft. Jackson, SC (near Columbia) for the remainder of the war. He was in the Military Police unit while there. It was during this time that he met Ida Scarborough.

After his discharge, he became the service manager for the local Chevrolet dealership in Columbia. Later, he transferred to Brunswick, GA and was their service manager. General Motors hired him as fleet service manager and he became responsible for 867 fleet accounts for 28 years until retirement. He worked an area that included South Carolina, part of Georgia and all of Florida. For a time he lived in Miami before moving to Jacksonville.

He recalls that on one rather long day, he had to drive from Columbia to Florida by way of Georgia. To make up for lost time and the many stops he had to make, his speed was up much higher than the law allowed. He got that day's first speeding ticket while in South Carolina, the second one going through Georgia and a third one in Florida! For the year, he had 37 speeding tickets!

Robert Burress is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Columbia, SC.

Photo of Bob Burress with daughter Susan taken May 1, 2001.