ROBERT LEE ADAIR, 87, of Austin, Texas, passed away peacefully after a long and successful life on the evening of March 26, 2009. Bob was born in Houston on April 7, 1921. A child of the Depression, Bob grew up in Houston in a large family, learning at a young age to deal with many kinds of adversity. After WWII started, he enlisted in the Navy, and was eventually stationed on a remote island in the South Pacific. At the end of the war he watched from the USS Tamalpais in Tokyo Harbor as the armistice was signed. Bob returned to Houston, where he enrolled in U of H and received an Associate's Degree in electrical engineering. He worked for a few years with his brother Red until starting his own business, Adair Wireline Service. In 1955, he met his wife Millie at the New York Lounge in Houston, married her and adopted her sons Jim and Bob, and the couple soon added two new children, Tina and Michael, to their family. In the late 1960's, Bob started Adair Equipment Company, where he invented and manufactured one of the first EPA-approved oilspill control chemicals, Cold Clean. He invented and patented a unique compression-molded cathodic protection device, the Red Head, still in wide use today. Later he branched out into the manufacture of highly specialized equipment used by major oil companies around the world. He sold Adair Equipment Company in 1980, but was never able to bring himself to retire. Bob and Millie moved to Austin in 1978, where they found many new friends. In 1988 Bob established Adair Group International, and continued manufacturing and selling Red Heads to companies around the country and in Canada until his death. Bob was preceded in death by his loving wife, Millie Bleyl Adair, and siblings George Adair, Charlie Adair, Red Adair, David Adair, Dorothy Morris, and May Miata. He is survived by his sister, Faye Guidry, his children, Michael Adair of St. Jo, Texas, Tina Adair and husband Darrel Gardner of Anchorage, Alaska, Jim Adair and wife Charl of Edmond, Oklahoma, Bob Adair of Austin, and his grandchildren, Sean Adair of Austin, Rory Adair McAllister of Anchorage, Zeke Adair of Austin, and April Downey of Austin. A memorial service will be held at Woodlawn Funeral Home at 1101 Antoine Drive in Houston at 2:00 pm on Monday, March 30, 2009. Memorial contributions in Bob's name should be made to Hospice Austin at www.hospiceaustin.org.

Published in Houston Chronicle
Sunday, March 29, 2009

Contributor's note:
following information from Collection: Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1932
Robert Lee Adair, born 07 April 1921, Houston, Harris Co. TX USA.
father: Charles Edward Adair
mother: Mary May (nee Smith)