Robert Joseph Darton, of Bossier City passed away on July 19, 2017 from a brief fight with cancer. Robert was born in New York City on July 26, 1923 to Mary Applegate and Robert Joseph Darton I.
After his parents divorced he briefly lived with his aunt and uncle, Gene and Essie Parker. His mother remarried Arthur Emley and they moved to a farm in Creamridge, New Jersey, where he lived until enlisting in the Navy in 1941. He was in boot camp in Newport, RI and went to aviation mechanics school in Jacksonville, Fla. After which the Navy assigned him to VP52 PBY squadron based out of San Pedro, Ca. After the Pearl Harbor attack he was stationed in Natal, Brazil on a PBY base performing anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue and other critical missions. After Natal he transferred to Key West, Fla. and then on to Port Leodia, North Africa. He was also sent to France briefly and spent time in Naples, Italy. He returned to San Pedro and was later assigned to a Navy Ferry Squadron on Whidbey Island near Seattle. They ferried PBY’s from a base in the Aleutian Islands to and from the assembly and repair plant in Philadelphia. Near the end of his service in 1946 he transferred to Floyd Bennet field in New York. Bob had made plane trips in and out of Shreveport during his service and decided he would settle there instead of New York. In Shreveport he met Tommie Jo Hale of Pecan Gap, Texas on a blind date and they married in September of 1946. To this marriage three children were born, Mary Lynn, Donna Gayle and Michael Robert. Bob worked for many years for Railway Express Agency and later for Conco Foods as transportation manager. Jo and Bob lived for many years in a home in Bossier City. He and Jo had a love of flowers and gardening. Jo passed away in 2002 and Bob stayed in their home until 2014. Bob worked as a volunteer for the Bossier Sheriff’s Dept. on patrols and the Operation Blessing Food program. He moved to an Assisted Living facility and then to the NW LA War Veterans Home.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Jo; daughter, Donna; parents, Mary and Arthur, Gene and Essie and sister, Betty. Left to cherish his memory are his daughter, Mickie (Mary Lynn) and husband Clem Sevde; son, Michael Darton and wife Jeannie; son in law, David Randolph; grandchildren, Andrea Bartman, Emily Horrell, Chris and Amanda Randolph, Jessica Wright, Lori Christensen, Samantha Darton and Jacob Darton and great grandchildren, Morgan, Marin, Cadence, Makenna, Jocelyn, Kincaid and Colton.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Operation Blessing. Services will be held at Hill Crest Memorial Funeral Home on Saturday, August 5, 2017. Visitation from 10 to 11AM, Funeral at 11AM. There will be a private family burial.
