Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 19 May 2011 — Page 30

Page 30 • The Muncie Times • May 19, 2011

Young Bob Foster would rather read a book, practice rhetorical speaking than fish or play outside

Otee (Foster) Stills (bottom) Lee Foster (left) and Dr. Robert Foster (right)

By T.S. Kumbula It's more than 2 months since Dr. Robert O. Foster died. But to his surviving siblings, brother Lee Foster and sister Otee Stills, both of Muncie, it seems like yesterday. During Sunday morning and afternoon interviews with The Muncie Times, the two separately reminisced about their late older brother. Dr. Foster was their remaining older sibling. Their oldest sibling, the first born in the family, Elnora Foster died when she was 12. There was also a cousin raised by the Fosters. Robert Ocell Foster was born Aug. 10, 1932, in Muncie, to Robert and Estella Foster, who had moved from Dumas, Ark., to Oklahoma and then Illinois. The older Robert Foster was on his way to Toledo, Ohio, in search of a job. When the train stopped in Muncie, he talked to some black men about job prospects, heard about an opening at a wire company, applied and got the job. Then he sent for his family to join him in Muncie. "When we were young, all of us attended Longfellow Elementary School, which was within walking distance. During those early days, Bob met this woman from Washington, D.C. She taught

rhetorical speaking. She became interested in Bob and began to teach him rhetorical speaking. As a result, Bob preferred books to playing outside. Bob always had a book in his hand," Lee Foster said, "When I was young, I would do my homework at school, so when I came home I would go out and play. I was an outside person. Bob was an inside person. "During those times, my closest friends were James Armstrong and Chester Shoemaker. We were very close friends. We played outside together, y father was older, when I was younger, so he did not do too much with us. But the fathers of James Armstrong and Chester Sshoemaker often took us to play outside and to fish on the (White) river. While we played outside, with most other neighborhood kids, Bob was inside reading, being mentored or tutored. He was inside a lot, just like my sister, Otee." Added Mrs. Stills, "Bob was more the book person, while Lee preferred to be outside. Bob was inside a lot. But the funny thing was that Lee got good grades, mostly A's and B's, without putting too much work into studying. Bob and I worked harder and studied harder for our grades. Bob

took his education seriously. He worked hard to get his A's and B's. So did I. Lee, on the other hand, got good grades without working hard for them. "Our house was also divided along male and female lines. As the only girl in the house, I spent a lot of time inside, with my mother,

learning to cook and other things that girls had to learn. My brothers, Bob and Lee, spent time Mrs Stills with my father, learning construction, painting houses and so forth. "My parents never owned a car. So when it was time to go grocery shopping, we went on the bus. We all had to carry things home. My mother used to shop at the old A&P grocery store. We also used to do grocery shopping at another store near The Muncie Times offices. We grew up without many of the fancy things available to others. We never had bicycles, but we were happy with what we had. At Christmas, we never had fancy things or toys, but I had dolls and we played marbles and jacks.". ’ Some family activities included owning chicks, wrapping and packing apples and pears in November so they could be ready for Christmas. "When we got chicks, one of the roosters was mean and it would frighten us. One day, when the rooster attacked us, we screamed and daddy came and help up the rooster. Apparently he held its neck so tight that it died. When we asked what he had done with the rooster, he said he had put it in the river and it had floated down to the Mississippi River," she said. "We believed him, even when we had chicken that night." As the future Dr. Foster grew older, he became interested in making speeches. Stills helped her older brother, often sitting in the front rows--so she could prompt him, in case he forgot some parts. Those speeches earned him prizes and scholarships, which enabled him to enter Ball State University. 'Growing up. we did not have much. But we had the love of our parents. Our parents were Christians, so we had to go to church every Sunday," she said.

We cherished what we had. One of those things was a little dog named Muggs. When we got a whipping, Muggs defended, even against daddy. Muggs was a protective dog." Lee Foster said his brother was also very athletic. "In junior and senior high school, Bob was one of the fastest people in the city for his age. He was also a good jumper who set a junior high school record," he said. He was also involved with the YMCA and Roy C. Buley, after whom the city's Roy Buley Center is named. Lee Foster said he grew up in a Christian, with both parents active in the nearby Union Missionary Baptist Church. On Sundays, he said, they went to church two or three times per day. He said his brother was very active in student government in Junior and senior high school, regularly serving as class president and student council president. "He wanted to be on stage. He was very popular. Because of these activities, some teachers at Ball State University became interested in him. They wanted him to come to Ball State. But our father was a steel miller who was not earning more than $40 to $50 a week. Although mother was a good budgeter, there was no money to send him to college. "He had to earn the money from rhetorical speaking. We also painted lots of rooms and houses so he could go to college." He would go on to Ball State, where he eventually earned three degrees, including a doctorate. He was active in ROTC, helped found a Kappa Alpha Psi chapter and became the first African American male teacher hired by Muncie Community Schools and would also become the district’s first black school principal.

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HONORING BEA MOTEN-FOSTER AND DR. ROBERT O. FOSTER FOR BEING THE OUTSTANDING MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY. IT WAS A PLEASURE KNOWING THEM. AND THEY WILL BE MISSED.