Robert J. McCloy III
Robert J. McCloy III was Promoted to GLORY on the 28th day of November, 2022. He passed with his family at his side. Bob was born in Philadelphia, PA on January 28, 1937. He was the son of Robert J. McCloy, II and Mary F. McCloy. He was raised in the western suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University) in 1959. While a student at Drexel, he was a member of the Accounting Society, the military honor society of Scabbard & Blade, and the social fraternity, Alpha Pi Lambda. Bob served as the President of his fraternity during his senior year at Drexel. He was awarded a B.S. in Business Administration degree with a major in Accounting.
He entered Active Duty as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry following graduation from Drexel and served for 26 months on active duty at Ft. Benning, GA. While at Ft. Benning, he completed the Infantry Officers Basic Course, Ranger Training, Parachute Training, the Instructor Training Course, and earned the Expert Infantryman’s Badge. He was assigned as an Evaluation & Guidance Officer in the Student Brigade for part of his active duty time. In this work he monitored the newly commissioned ROTC officers during the Orientation Course each new officer undertook upon reporting for active duty. He was instrumental in determining whether or not the newly commissioned Lieutenant retained his commission as a result of that officer’s performance during the Orientation Course. Bob wrote an article about the Orientation Course that was published in the “Infantry Magazine” and distributed to U.S. Army Infantrymen world-wide.
He volunteered to become an Army Ranger Instructor midway through his active duty assignment and was transferred to the Ranger Department in the School Brigade at Ft. Benning. He served with distinction with the Ranger Department as an Instructor and following 9 months in that assignment was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service.
Following separation from the Army in 1962 he matriculated at the University Of Tennessee Graduate School in Knoxville. He was a Graduate Assistant in the Business College and majored in Transportation Economics with a minor in Industrial Management. He was awarded a Master of Science degree from the University of Tennessee.
Continental Grain Company recruited Bob from the University of Tennessee in 1964. In that year he married his college sweetheart, Nancy, and they moved to Greenwich Village, New York City. He was the administrative assistant to the VP Transportation for Continental Grain Company – at that time the world’s second largest grain merchandiser. Subsequently, Continental Grain relocated him to Toledo, OH, and St. Louis, MO. In 1968 the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. recruited Bob and relocated him to its headquarters in Chicago, IL. He served as the Marketing Manager for Grain and Grain Products for the railroad.
In 1970 he left Chicago and enrolled with advanced standing at the WVU College of Law in Morgantown, WV. He was awarded the J.D. degree in 1972. While at WVU Law he was a member of Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity and a member of Student Government. He was a member of the 1971 award winning International Law Moot Court Team.
He applied to the West Virginia Army National Guard to be re-commissioned as an Officer in the National Guard and subsequently served as a Combat Engineer Company Commander with the 1092nd Combat Engineer Battalion. In 1972 he commanded the Headquarters Company of the 1092nd when it was activated for the Buffalo Creek Disaster. Subsequently, he was appointed as the WV State JAG officer. He resigned his commission in 1979. During his Army National Guard tenure he completed the Engineer Officer’s Basic and Advanced Courses at Ft. Belvoir, VA and the JAG Officer’s Basic Course at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. He also served as Instructor at the WV Officer Candidate School for several years.
Following graduation from WVU Law, Bob was offered the position as Director of Community Services at the first comprehensive Community College in WV. Parkersburg Community College (now WVU at Parkersburg) was in its first year of operation and was recruiting senior staff employees. Bob became responsible for all “non-traditional” courses offered at the College in addition to teaching Traffic and Transportation courses and Business Law courses. He administered approximately 100 courses each academic year including offerings in “Belly Dancing”, “Horseback Riding”, “Chess”, “Sewing”, and the like, in addition to his teaching. He also wrote the Traffic and Transportation Degree and Certificate Program, the Real Estate Degree and Certificate Program, the Law Enforcement Degree Program, and the Fire Science and Safety Technology Degree Program during his time as Director of Community Services. In 1975 he brought the National Association of Realtors Program, the GRI program of Instruction to WV at the College. West Virginia was the next to last state to have this important real estate education program available to its real estate agents and brokers. Bob resigned from the academic administrative position and became a member of the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1975. He taught Principles of Accounting, Federal Income Taxation, Real Estate Law and Business Law.
He was promoted to Associate Professor and granted tenure in 1978 and promoted to Professor in 1981. During this period he was frequently asked to present lectures and workshops on Accounting and Tax and Law topics to local groups of accountants, tax preparers, insurance agents and CLU candidates. He was also a popular speaker among community service groups and church groups commenting on various higher education topics.
Beginning in 1975 he served as Administrator of the GRI Program and consultant to the WV State Association of Realtors. He drafted the amendment to the WV Real Estate Licensing Law that required formal education as a prerequisite to licensing as a real estate agent or broker in WV. He actively lobbied the Legislature and the Governor with the State Association of Realtors for passage of the amendment. Following enactment of the Amendment he traveled around the State to explain to local Boards of Realtors the details of the new law. The WV Board of Education commissioned him to write a textbook for use by real estate instructors who would offer real estate pre-licensure courses at the high schools throughout the State. This text was published in 1980.
Bob was deeply involved in real estate education during this period. He was invited to many local Boards of Realtors to speak on the Realtor’s Code of Ethics. He was a special guest speaker at annual conferences of the WV Association of Realtors. He was a principal Instructor at the Annual GRI classes offered throughout the State of WV. And, he was the Parkersburg Community College/WVU-P Instructor in the real estate pre-licensure courses titled “Real Estate Principles” and “Real Estate Law”. He was a major contributor to the course content used by the WV Real Estate Board for the pre-licensure class materials. He continued teaching in the GRI program and the pre-licensure program until the late 1990s.
Following his resignation from college administration in 1975, he became active in the practice of Law in Parkersburg. He focused on Estate Planning, Corporate Law, and Taxation. Bob was a Partner in the Parkersburg, WV Law Firm of Myers, McCloy, and Zivkovich. He was a member of the Estate Planning Council of the mid Ohio Valley and served as President of that body in the late 1970s.
He was the General Counsel for the WV Association of Nursing Homes and was asked to serve as Executive Director in the late 1970s. He became a chief spokesperson and lobby for the group. He was a popular speaker on behalf of the WV Nursing Homes and was invited to speak at Nursing Home Owners and Operators conventions in WV, KY, and IN.
Bob continued as a popular and well respected member of the faculty at Parkersburg Community College. He was invited to join the Board of Directors of the Four Rivers Girl Scout Council and to serve on the Board of Directors of the local Consumers Credit Counseling Service in Parkersburg. When the WV Girl Scout Councils were consolidated into the Black Diamond Girl Scout Council headquartered in Charleston, WV Bob was asked to serve on that Board of Directors as a Vice President of the new Council. Subsequently he was given the Girl Scout “Thanks Badge” for his service to Girl Scouting.
Boy Scouting recruited him as a volunteer for the Cub Scouts in Mineral Wells. He became a Den Dad, Den Leader, Cub Master, and Cub Committee Chair. Then he became Scout Committee Chair for the reactivated BSA Troop 86 in Mineral Wells, WV. Thereafter he served for 6 years as the Scoutmaster of Troop 86. In the late 1980s he was asked to serve on the Kootaga Council’s Board and he became VP for Scouting in the Kootaga Area Boy Scout Council headquartered in Parkersburg, WV. The National Office of the BSA requested the Kootaga Council in Parkersburg to merge with the Central WV Council located in Clarksburg, WV as part of the national movement to consolidate Councils. That merger resulted in the Allohak Area Council in 1991 headquartered in Parkersburg involving boy scouting in counties from Athens, OH to Tucker County, WV. Bob became the first President of the new Allohak Council.
He resigned from the role of President of the Allohak Council in 1994 and was asked to become an Area Vice President for the BSA with oversight of the Boy Scout Council in southern WV and the Boy Scout Council in eastern Ohio.
Following several years in this role he resigned from these volunteer positions with Boy Scouting and was recruited, again, to the Board of Directors of the Black Diamond Girl Scout Council in Charleston, WV.
During his tenure as a Boy Scout volunteer, he earned many badges and honors. He was awarded the Vigil Honor in the Order of the Arrow, the District Award of Merit, the Silver Beaver Award, and was a James West Fellow. He was a popular speaker at scout groups and a sought after instructor at adult scouting classes and workshops. He was a Trek Leader to the BSA High Adventure Base in Florida, a student at scout training at Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico, and a participant in a canoe outing at the Boundary Waters Camping Area on the Canadian border. He participated in three (’85, ’89, and ’93) national Jamborees at Ft. A.P. Hill in VA and a National Conference of the Order of the Arrow in central Michigan.
In 1985 his Law Office clients, Lloyd and Lee Middleton, asked Bob to join with them in managing the newly established Middleton Doll Company in Athens, OH. He resigned from the Law Partnership of Myers, McCloy, and Zivkovich and became the Vice President of Finance and Administration (the CFO) of the Middleton Doll Company. In 1989 that company became the SBA “Small Business of the Year” for the state of Ohio.
His friend, John Lehman, asked Bob to help him with his business interests in Marietta, OH in late 1989. Bob resigned from the Middleton Doll Company and became the President of Mole Master Corporation in Marietta. Subsequently, he was instrumental in acquiring and relocating the Hi-Vac Corporation from Elk Grove Village, IL to Marietta. After the relocation, he became President of Hi-Vac Corporation, Hi-Vac Canada, and the Marietta Metal Products Corp.
When the WV Legislature converted Parkersburg Community College to West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Bob was asked to become a full-time academic administrator to aid in the conversion to a University Campus. He resigned from his business involvements in Marietta. He became the Division Chair for the Business Division at WVU-P. This Division was slated to become the first area of the college to offer a Baccalaureate Degree. Bob led the effort in developing the required courses, recruiting new faculty, establishing the liaison with the main campus in Morgantown, and assuring the necessary articulation with other institutions. He was a principle spokesperson for PCC in presenting its situation to the WV Board of Regents. He also authored and supervised the “Economic Development” program of instruction in cooperation with the Bell Atlantic Company. Following the successful transition to a regional campus in the WV University System, Bob resigned from his role as Chair of the Business and Economics Division and returned to full time faculty status.
He served as Advisor to the Phi Beta Lambda Business Student fraternity chapter at WVU-P and was the WV State Advisor of the Year for Phi Beta Lambda in 1992.
He was also the first Academic Advisor to the Mid Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Association of Purchasing Managers (NAPM). From 1995 to 1997 he was a member of the prestigious Educational Resources Committee of the NAPM. He was invited to the semi-annual conferences at NAPM National Headquarters in Tempe, AZ where he and 11 other University Professors met and discussed matters relating to the education and certification of Purchasing Managers throughout the US.
He was recruited by Parker/Hunter as a stockbroker in the Marietta, OH, office shortly after he left the position of department chair at WVU-P. While at Parker/Hunter he earned his Series 7, Series 63, and Insurance Agent license. After a dullish period with Parker/Hunter, he moved to the Parkersburg office of MetLife. In 1996 he was the sales agent “Rookie of the Year” for the WV Metlife eastern Ohio and the entire state of WV areas and in 1997 was designated a member of the MetLife President’s Conference recognizing the top 2{e421c4d081ed1e1efd2d9b9e397159b409f6f1af1639f2363bfecd2822ec732a} of the 6,500 MetLife sales agents in the USA. He became the MetLife Training Manager for the state of WV in 1998 and in 2000 was the MetLife “Representative of the Year” for the state of WV. He also earned his Series 65 designation. Bob earned the LUTCF designation in 1998.
He was active in the Parkersburg Chapter of the Life Underwriters as a Speaker and Instructor and was elected President in 2000.
He retired from the MetLife Individual Sales Division in 2003 after a successful 7 year career.
During this period he continued as a Professor at WVU-P teaching Business Law, Corporate Finance, and Personal Investing courses. He wrote the Personal Investing course based on his experience as a stockbroker and financial adviser with Parker/Hunter and MetLife and had it successfully integrated into the Business curriculum at WVU-P. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Hondros College in Columbus, OH, WSCC and the Washington County Career Center teaching short courses on stocks, bonds, and investments, and small-business management.
In 2003 Bob and Nancy became residents at the Bay Pointe Condominiums in Belpre, OH. In 2004 he was elected President of the Bay Pointe Condominium Association, Inc., and continued in that role for the next 10 years.
He reentered the practice of law in Parkersburg, WV and conducted a limited practice focused on real estate and estate planning. Bob became an active participant in the WV State Bar Probate Law Committee. He retired from the active practice of law in 2006.
At WVU-P he continued as a popular faculty member and was elected to the Faculty Senate. He served with this body for several years and was also designated as the Senate’s Parliamentarian. He retired from WVU-P after 35 years service and was recognized as “Professor of Business Emeritus” in 2007.
Following retirement from WVU-P he was invited to become a member of the adjunct faculty. He taught a Business Law course each semester for the next 4 years, fully retiring in 2011. MetLife recalled Bob to service as a “Benefits Counselor” in 2008 and he continued in that part-time role for several years.
In 2006 Bob and Nancy bought a pontoon boat and docked it on the Ohio River behind their condominium unit in Belpre. Bob joined the Mid Ohio Valley Squadron of the United States Power Squadron in 2007 and began to take boat safety classes and boat piloting classes. He became proficient enough to be able to pilot a chartered Trawler on weeklong outings on the Chesapeake Bay with other boaters from the Mid Ohio Valley Power Squadron. He became the Commander of the local Squadron in 2009 and during his tenure as commander the Mid Ohio Valley Power Squadron was awarded the “Commanders Trophy” for the overall outstanding performance of the Squadron. This was the first time in nearly 3 decades the local Squadron had won this award. Bob also became a Vessel Safety Inspector and Certified Instructor for the United States Power Squadron.
Bob had been a member of the Marietta Rotary Club in the early 1990s but left Rotary when he moved to WV. In 2007 he joined the Belpre Rotary Club and was active for many years as Program Chair for that Club. He is a Paul Harris Fellow and he became Vice President (President Nominee) of the Rotary Club in Belpre in 2013.
Bob is survived by his wife of 58 years, Nancy; his son, Robert J. McCloy, IV and daughter-in-law, Terri, and granddaughter, Ellie Glynn McCloy, all of Given, WV; his daughter, Sara Anne Fiorille and son-in-law, Todd, of Venice, FL; and a sister, Jane Ann Morris, of Warrenton, VA.
Bob continues to serve others in death just like he did in life by donating his body to The Ohio State University. The family will hold a private celebration of Bob’s amazing life at a later date. Friends and family can honor his memory by donating to the Belpre Rotary Club or the Belpre Area Veterans group (mail to: Belpre Area Veterans Inc., 1415 King Street Belpre, Ohio 45714).
