Evans- Mr. Robert R. Polk, beloved husband of Mary Ann Polk, entered into rest on Sunday, May 19, 2013 at Brandon Wilde.
Robert was born August 9, 1921, the son of Forrest R. Polk and Ruth Finley Polk in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He had three sisters, Frances Kester (deceased), Marian Watts (deceased) and Vivian Harnitz (Appleton, Wisconsin). He married Mary Ann Witzel in 1944 and had two sons; Robert F. Polk (New Berlin, Wisconsin) and Don G. Polk (Houston, Texas). Robert married Joyce Peterson and they had two children: Sandra (Brookfield, Wisconsin) and Jeremy (Waukesha, Wisconsin). Sandra has two sons and one daughter: Benjamin and twins Sean and Anna. Jeremy has one daughter, Jordan.
Robert won a state-wide scholarship competition for the U. S. Naval Academy and graduated from there in 1944 with a B.S. Degree. As a new Ensign, he joined the crew of the U.S.S. Missouri, serving as junior gunnery officer during the Asiatic campaign of World War II. On this tour, the ship earned three battle stars. In 1945, He went to Texas to start flight training. His assignments, after getting his wings, took him to the Caribbean, Hawaii, and the Aleutian Islands. In 1949, he resigned from the U.S. Navy and enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After earning his degree, his academic appointments included the Wisconsin Universities at River Falls and Oshkosh. He was later named Chief Academic Officer of the Wisconsin System and after merger with the University of Wisconsin System, he became Associate Vice President of the U.W. System. He served concurrently as Chancellor of the U.W. Center System (13 two –year colleges) and as interim Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He retired in 1982 and he and Mary moved to Hilton Head, SC. They left Hilton Head Island in 1997 and entered Brandon Wilde, Augusta’s Life Care Community, Evans, Georgia.