Robert Breland "Bob" Deen, Jr.

Memorial services for Mr. Robert Breland “Bob” Deen, Jr. will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 17, 2021 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, with The Reverend Austin McGehee and The Reverend J. Brian Ponder officiating. Inurnment will be in the memorial garden at St. Paul's. There will be a reception to follow the memorial service in the parish hall at the church. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.

Robert Breland “Bob” Deen, Jr. was surrounded by love when he passed away from his home to the best Home of all on December 12, 2021. Born December 3rd, 1925, in Tupelo, Mississippi, Bob grew up in Starkville, Mississippi.

In 1943, in the midst of World War II, Bob graduated from Starkville High School, volunteered for the U.S. Army, which sent him to North Carolina State University for military training and to study engineering. Bob served in the 330th Bombardment Group of the 20th Air Force, Army Air Corps, stationed on Guam Island. Upon returning from the Pacific Theater in 1946, he studied engineering at Mississippi State University. In 1947, he left to study law at Vanderbilt University, served as managing editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review, and earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree. At Vanderbilt, Bob was awarded membership in the Order of the Coif national honor society.

In 1950, Bob’s first job as a young attorney took him to Meridian, Mississippi, with a firm on the fourteenth floor of the Threefoot Building. He practiced law in Meridian for more than 60 years. Bob’s career included serving as a member and president of the Lauderdale County Bar Association, a member and commissioner of the Mississippi Bar Association, a member of the American Bar Association, and a founding Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Association Foundation. Bob joined the Board of Directors of Riley Hospital in the late 1950s and served the hospital continuously as board member and legal counsel until 1998.

Since the 1960s, Bob has been a prominent Meridian civic leader and philanthropist. Bob was one of the two lead attorneys in a landmark federal lawsuit that forced Lauderdale County, and subsequently all Mississippi counties, to re-draw county supervisor districts to more equitably represent all voters. The litigation was considered a classic case following the doctrine established a few years prior by the U.S. Supreme Court of “One man, one vote.” Bob also represented the Meridian Public School District in successfully obtaining one of the first approved federal school desegregation plans in Mississippi.

A founder of both the Riley Foundation and the Phil Hardin Foundation, Bob has served both organizations as board member, legal counsel, and president. Over the years he served a number of other area organizations, including the Mental Health Association, Meridian Museum of Art, Boy Scouts of America, Girls Scouts of America, Meridian Airport Authority, Meridian Chamber of Commerce, Kings Daughters and Sons Rest Home, Family Services Association, as well as Northwood Country Club and the Meridian Camera Club. He was a longtime communicant and a former senior warden at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

A PROUD alumnus of Mississippi State University, he was a major force in the university's expansion and improvements in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. At its 2012 spring commencement, the university awarded him with an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service. As a founder of the Riley Foundation, he was instrumental in the creation of the MSU Riley Center and renovation of the Grand Opera House, as well as a number of other buildings in downtown Meridian that now constitute MSU's Meridian campus. In appreciation of his vision for the university and his tireless efforts on behalf of his alma mater, in 2015 the university named the business school building on MSU's Meridian Campus, the Robert B. Deen, Jr. Building.

Bob was a golfer, a trombone player, a patron of the arts, and a sports fan. He was particularly pleased to see his beloved Bulldogs win the 2021 NCAA National Baseball Championship. He loved big band music, WWII history and movies, the Chicago Cubs, the stock market, and politics. Bob loved his “Boggy Branch” golf pals, and his “Supper Club” friends. He had almost as many nicknames as he did friends who loved him, and each is fun to recall. Bob loved to travel, especially to his beloved Colorado and all places in the American West. Bob visited more than a dozen countries and treated many friends and family to slideshows afterward. An avid photographer, especially of nature and travel, he was recognized by the Photographic Society of America as one of the top 25 wildlife photographers in North America. His photographs won countless national and international awards. In 2016, he published On the Wing: A Book of Photography, showcasing decades of his favorite bird photos. Bob loved birds and they seemed to love him back. He approached everything in life with an academic curiosity, enthusiasm and passion. Bob loved his family and friends and time at his home on Timberlake.

"Packy," as he was known to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, is survived by his wife of 48 years, Lindy, and five children: His son Tim Deen (Amy); daughters Susan Keith (Eddie), Patti Delaney (Glenn), Leigh Francis, and Stacey Griffith (Greg). He is survived by nine grandchildren: Rachael Clayton (John), Anna Smithhart (Will), Neil Deen (Julie), Matthew Keith (JoAnna), Katie Smith (Toby), Cara Martin (Eddie), Alex Martin (Alaina), Brooke Barefield, and Claire Griffith; and by eleven great-grandchildren: Violet, Adeline, Dolly, Ellis, Mattie, Elleigh, Carson, Mia, Ford, Margot, and Maren. He leaves a towering legacy as a Christian, father, husband, grandfather, great-grandfather, attorney, civic leader, veteran, patriot, and gentleman.

Bob’s family is so grateful for his caregivers Myrna Cole, Alinda Martin, Ronnie Carpenter, and “Sue” Cole.

Bob is survived by his mother-in-law, Joy Richardson, brother, Allen L. Deen, DDS., sisters-in-law, Eva Deen and Patty Keating (Brian), and brother-in-law, Whit Richardson (Gail). Bob is preceded in death by his parents, Margaret Hall Deen and Robert Breland Deen, his brother, James Hall Deen, MD, and his father-in-law, Arthur Whitfield Richardson.

The family would be blessed to have St. Paul’s vestry, the board members and staff of The Riley Foundation and Phil Hardin Foundation, and members of the Lauderdale County Bar Association, as honorary pallbearers.

Memorial donations, in lieu of flowers, may be given to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and to the MSU Foundation, P.O. Box 6149, Mississippi State, MS 39762, noted for the “Robert Deen Scholarship”.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.robertbarhamffh.com .