Col. Robert Stafford Rivers of Columbia and Washington, D.C., died September 16, 2003, in Washington, D.C. Born in Mt. Croghan in 1921, he was the son of the late Arthur Burch Rivers and the late Ida Maie Stafford Rivers of Columbia. Col. Rivers attended public schools in Chesterfield County and Columbia. He was a cadet at The Citadel until he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1944. He later earned a master’s degree from Georgetown University. After graduation from West Point, he trained as a bomber pilot and began a 30-year career in the United States Air Force. In addition to assignments in the Pacific, occupied Japan, and Europe, Rivers served over 14 years in the Pentagon. During his first Washington assignment, he served as assistant executive officer to the comptroller of the Air Force and had additional duties as a White House military aide under President Truman. Rivers’ subsequent assignments in the Department of Defense required him to work closely with the Department of State and Joint Chiefs of Staff on foreign policy as well as overall planning and operational activity of the Air Force. A memorial service is planned for 3:30 p.m. Sunday, September 21, at Washington Street United Methodist Church in Columbia. The family will receive friends immediately following the service. The body will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Plans will be announced by Joseph Gawler’s Sons, Inc., in Washington D.C. Col. Rivers is survived by a large and loving network of relatives and friends. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts be sent to Wofford College and designated for the Ida Maie and Arthur B. Rivers Scholarship fund or to Washington Street United Methodist Church, 1401 Washington Street, Columbia, SC 29201.
Posted in:
Posted on:
Link to original obituary: