Born and raised in Rowan County, Robert attended Spencer High School and graduated in 1960 from North Rowan High School following the consolidation of the Rowan County schools.  Robert enrolled in Catawba College in the fall of 1960 and graduated in May 1964.  On June 28, 1964, Robert married Joyce Wagnerand 2025 will be their 61st anniversary.  They have two daughters.  Kimberly, a graduate of Meredith College, and currently teaching at Jay M. Robinson HS in Concord.  Gaye, a graduate of Gardner Webb University recently retired as the media specialist at West Cabarrus HS also in Concord.  They have four grandchildren, three granddaughters, a grandson, and are expecting their first great grandchild in July 2025.  One granddaughter is a media specialist in Cabarrus County Schools, two granddaughters are in social work in Asheville and the grandson is a legal specialist in Charleston SC. 

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While attending Catawba College he had the opportunity to take a driver education instructor course.  It was recommended for those aspiring to be coaches take this course since it would provide income during the summer months.  Little did he know that most of his entire 56+ year career would be in driver education.  During the summer following graduation from Catawba, Robert was hired as a teacher/coach at East Rowan HS.  He served in this capacity for three years before being hired in 1967 by Cabarrus County Schools.  Robert served as a full-time driver education instructor at Northwest Cabarrus HS and as an assistant football and basketball coach.

 

 In 1971 he became director of the South Piedmont Traffic Education Center in Concord.  In the late sixties and early seventies there were six traffic education centers located across the state.  These centers became important resources for teacher training as the state expanded the driver education program during the seventies and eighties.  These centers closed in the early nineties when loaner vehicles and funding was no longer available, but were invaluable when the state required all driver education instructors to go through a competency program to maintain certification to continue as a driver education instructor.  

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Graduated from first Master's program in Driver and Traffic Safety Education offered by NC A & T State University.

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Assisted with the South Piedmont Education Consortium and NC A & T State University to bring these courses to Concord so area instructors didn’t have to travel to Greensboro.

Assistant project director working with Dr. Isaac Barnett of NC A & T State University to develop an interdisciplinary driver education curriculum funded by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program.  This approach combined knowledge and methods from driver education into science, math, social studies, and english classes to aid youthful drivers in making better traffic decisions.

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Served on the Board of Directors of ADTSEA from 1980-83.

Received the NCDTSEA Lifetime Service Award on April 23, 1994.

Received the Phillip Forrest McGirt, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award on April 13, 2013.