Robert Bruce Harrell, formerly of Carbondale
Robert Bruce Harrell, 90, formerly of Carbondale, died of COVID-19 in Royal Oak, Mich., on April 16, 2020. Bob was a true and loyal friend to many, a dedicated and honest public servant, a gifted teacher, and a skillful and tireless community activist who enriched the lives of many. Above all, he was an exceptionally kind, loving and attentive husband, father and grandfather.
Robert was born March 12, 1930, in Eastland County, Texas, to Thomas Coleman Harrell and Bernie Ator Harrell. He grew up in rural east Texas as his family struggled through the Great Depression, eventually settling first in Tyler and then Kilgore, Texas. Both his sisters lost their husbands in World War Il, and he saw a war-ravaged Europe first-hand while living with his sister Ann, a war correspondent based in Paris and Berlin in 1947. Growing up in the segregated
deep South, he witnessed so many acts of racial injustice during his youth that he had a lifelong aversion to calling himself a Texan (although he never lost his accent). The economic hardship and racial injustice he observed in his childhood inspired his unfailing commitment to political activism. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War as an instructor of airplane mechanics, until a jeep accident crushed his leg and kept him in a hospital for a year. He then attended college on the GI Bill, eventually earning a doctorate in English from the University of Texas. He married the love of his life, Marie Milburn Harrell, on Jan. 23, 1955. They settled in Carbondale, where he became a tenured professor of English at Southern Illinois University. He loved teaching, and decades later he continued to be greeted warmly by grateful students he encountered. Bob and Marie dedicated themselves to their new community, working to expand student voting rights, championing desegregation of Carbondale's public schools and revitalizing Jackson County's Democratic Party. Bob was elected president of SIU's chapter of the American Association of University Professors. In that role he objected to the infamous and unjust firing of over 100 SIU professors by the administration in 1974 and subsequently saw his own name added to the list of those to be fired. When SIU tried to re-hire Bob to avoid the firestorm of controversy that had arisen, he refused to give them the legal fig leaf they wanted and leaned further into Jackson County politics. He then became county clerk and recorder for Jackson County, overseeing the first efforts to computerize the office, ensuring honest, fair and accessible elections, and facilitating, rather than foiling, his employees' successful efforts to unionize. He won re-election numerous times before retiring in 1994. After his retirement, he and Marie remained active in many community organizations and continued to provide help, support and friendship to many.
He and Marie enjoyed traveling and visiting their children and grandchildren, who knew him as their adored "Grandbob." He was devoted to Marie and spent many years caring for her until she died in January of 2019, days before their 64th wedding anniversary. Shortly after her death he moved to an assisted living community in Michigan near his daughter and her family. He quickly became a valued asset to his new home, making many new friends and advocating for his fellow residents and enjoying time with family.
He is survived by his daughters, Amelia Amin (Camron) and Elizabeth Eidem (Scott); and his grandchildren, Caelin Amin, Ben Amin, Stephanie Eidem, Emily Eidem and Tyler Eidem.