Robert E. Bobby Mr. Little, III

Wadesboro - Robert 'Bobby' Eugene Little, III passed away peacefully on Monday, February 18, 2013, in Charlotte, North Carolina at Carolinas Medical Center after a year-long battle with cancer. A memorial service will be 11:00AM Saturday, February 23, 2013 at Calvary Episcopal Church, 300 E. Wade St., Wadesboro. Born and raised, and a lifelong resident of Wadesboro, North Carolina (Anson County), he was the son of the late Robert E. Little, Jr., a former North Carolina State senator and trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the late Rosa Leak Parsons. Bobby graduated from Sewanee Military Academy in Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1952. He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, and received a Bachelor of Business Science degree from the UNC Business School in 1956, and a JD from the UNC School of Law in June 1958. He was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1958. Upon his death he was the most senior member of the Anson County Bar Association having been a member for more than fifty years. During his career, he was elected both President of the Anson County Bar and President of the District Bar for the Twentieth Judicial District of North Carolina. Bobby joined the U.S. Air Force as a Captain in March, 1959, and was assigned the 2586 Air Base Squadron at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida as Staff Judge Advocate. In August, 1960, he was posted to Incerlik Air Base near Adana, Turkey, where he served as Trial Counsel and liaison to the Turkish Public Prosecutor and Turkish police, representing NATO personnel accused of violating the Turkish Code. He returned to Wadesboro in 1962, and opened his own law firm. He believed in giving back to the community he loved so much which is evidenced in the many ways in which he served. He was elected mayor of Wadesboro in 1965, an office he held until 1971. He was a lifelong Democrat, and served as Precinct Chairman and held various offices in the Anson County Democratic Party. He served one term as a Trustee on the Board of Directors of Fayetteville State University. He also served on the Board and was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Anson Community Hospital, part of Carolinas HealthCare System. A loyal and enthusiastic member of the Wadesboro Rotary Club since joining in 1962, he was also a Paul Harris Fellow. Planes and tractors were a few of Bobby's favorite hobbies, be it taking them apart, repairing them, or riding them around town in snow storms. He loved sunflowers and for several years used to plant a field full on a piece of property he owned along Highway 74. He was a lifelong aviator having earned his private pilot's license while living in Miami and he loved flying the open skies. Mr. Little's marriage to the former Gilda Ardoin ended in divorce. He was preceded in death by his second wife the late Ann Sparrow York of Gastonia, and his sister Rosa Little Porter of New Orleans, Louisiana. He is survived by his two children, Anne Bennett Little McCafferty and her husband Douglas R. McCafferty of Los Gatos, California; Walter Leake Parsons Little of San Francisco, California; a grandson Andrew Bennett Davidson Little also of San Francisco, California; and a sister, Mary Bennett Little of Wadesboro, North Carolina. He also has two step children, Clarisa York Bryant of Gastonia, North Carolina and Susan York Hinkle of Winston Salem, North Carolina. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to Anson County Community Economic Support Services (ACCESS) Community Development Corporation (CDC) in Bobby's name. Checks can be made payable to ACCESS CDC and mailed to P.O. Box 1401, Wadesboro, NC, 28170. The arrangements are in care of Leavitt Funeral Home. Online condolences may be made at www.leavitfuneralhomewadesboro.com