Frank Benjamin Robards Jr. died Dec. 4, 2012, in Rock Hill, S.C. following a long illness. The son of the late Frank Benjamin Robards and Alice Thomas Robards, he was born on Dec. 11, 1929, in Henderson, N.C. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012, at First Presbyterian Church in Rock Hill with the Revs. Dr. John Y. Todd III and Tai Z. Magette officiating. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, at Greene Funeral Home Northwest Chapel, 2133 Ebenezer Rd., Rock Hill, SC 29732. Mr. Robards was a 1951 graduate of The Citadel and a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. Mr. Robards was a Captain in the Air Force and served oversees in the Korean War. He followed in his father’s footsteps and entered into banking. Mr. Robards began his banking career with Citizens & Southern National Bank in Augusta, Ga. as an assistant trust officer and assistant cashier and then as a vice president with Citizens Bank & Trust in his hometown, Henderson, N.C. He moved to Rock Hill in 1966 to serve as executive vice president of Rock Hill National Bank and then became president of the bank in 1972. A proponent of independent banking, Mr. Robards spent 25 years with RHNB Corporation and Rock Hill National Bank. He was also a former director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. After retiring from banking in 1991, Mr. Robards worked as a business consultant, served as the Interim Director of York County Hospice, Inc. and then took a position as the vice president in charge of the Piedmont Medical Services Co., a subsidiary of Piedmont Medical Center. He retired from that position in 1998. Mr. Robards was an active member of First Presbyterian Church where he served as an elder, taught Sunday school, and was on the Stewardship Committee. As a man of deep faith, he especially enjoyed the time he spent serving as a lay minister at several small area churches. In addition, Mr. Robards was very involved in the community throughout his life and served on numerous boards. He was chair of the York County Natural Gas Authority, director of Investors National Life Insurance board, board member for the Chamber of Commerce, York County Library Board, and the Industrial Park Board. He was an executive board member on the Winthrop College School of Business and a member of the York Technical College Foundation Board. Mr. Robards also served on The Citadel Foundation Board, the YMCA Board, the Piedmont Medical Center Board, and the board of BB&T Corporation. He is survived by his devoted wife of 54 years, Mildred Kenyon Roberts Robards and his sister, Betsy Robards Royall. He is also survived by his children, Frank Benjamin Robards III and wife, Lisa Murray Robards of Rock Hill, James Roberts Robards and wife Suzanne Little Robards of Charlotte, N.C. and Mary Kenyon Robards Jones and husband Richard Brooks Jones of Columbia, S.C. He was a loving grandfather to Frank Benjamin Walker Robards and Caroline Stuart Robards of Rock Hill, Garrett Little Robards and Mary Adele ôAddieö Robards of Charlotte and Fulton Brooks Jones, Roberts Neubauer ôBauerö Jones and Thomas Banks Jones of Columbia. The family wishes to thank the staff at Harbor Chase and Medi Home Hospice for their kindness and care. Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, P. O. Box 1011, Rock Hill, S.C. 29731. Tags: 1951
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