PALM HARBOR, FL, Robert Charlton Hannum, Sr., born on May 17, 1928 in Upland, Pennsylvania, passed away February 10, 2014 in Palm Harbor, Florida. Bob retired from Sun Oil Company where he worked as a purchasing agent. He and the love of his life, Stella Hedwig Smagala, were married for 64 years and had three children: Diane Regina Hannum Stoyer of Payson, Arizona, Dr. Robert Charlton Hannum, Jr., of Irvine, California, and Professor Thomas Patrick Hannum of Hadley, Massachusetts. They have four grandchildren: Robert Charlton III, Andrew Thomas, Gregory James, and William Joseph.

Bob was a proud U.S. Navy veteran, having served aboard the USS Krishna from 1946 to 1948, and then in the Naval Reserve until 1953.

Bob was active in sports all his life, beginning with sandlot baseball and as a pole vaulter at Eddystone High School, Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Later he played basketball in the Sun Oil Company Athletic Association League, and softball on the Greenhalgh-Calderoni championship team, winning 8 straight league pennants, 7 playoff titles and the Pennsylvania State Championship in 1966. The team was the most dominant team in Delaware County history. When his playing days were over, Bob began officiating high school football in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA). He also officiated semi-pro games in the Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL), traveling the East Coast and Midwest. In 1985, Bob was inducted into the Delaware County Old Timers Athletes Association under the category Official and in 1978, the Association awarded him the Andrew W. MacMurtrie Award for sportsman of the year. The Chester Chapter of PIAA Football Officials awarded Bob the Joe Barrett Memorial Award in recognition of his enthusiasm toward the Chapter and his fellow officials. Bob also officiated basketball and girls’ high school volleyball and was a longtime coach in the Suburban Little League and Teener Baseball Leagues.

Bob loved parades, drum and bugle corps and marching bands, especially the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band. He was co-founder and assistant director of the Brookhaven Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps, which later became the Keystone Regiment, and eventually became part of the nationally renowned Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps which are still active today having relocated their home base to San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Hannum’s dedication to the activities of young people inspired others to follow his example and created an impact on those who were fortunate to experience his incredible enthusiasm and honest leadership.

Bob’s energetic spirit and ever-present sense of humor will be missed by his wife and family and many, many lifelong friends.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 10:00 a.m. in Holy Rosary Cemetery, Hadley. Calling hours will be Friday, Feb. 14, from 4-7 p.m. at the Douglass Funeral Service, Amherst. Obituary and memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com.

Service details, Social networking, Memorial Guestbook and Slideshow are available here.