Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett

July 28, 1931 – May 22, 2023

 

Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett was born July 28, 1931, in High Point, North Carolina, the son of Roy Martin Padgett and

Mabel Lois Payne Padgett.

 

During his early years he excelled in school and won the North Carolina State High School individual golf championship

in 1949. He also received a full tuition scholarship to Duke University for his freshman year. He graduated magna cum

laude from Duke in the summer of 1952 with a major in Mathematics. What followed in his life, from 1953 until 1967

was a series of apparent “failures,” for which he was always grateful, because that eventually caused him to cry out to the

Lord for help.

 

He served in the United States Air Force from 1955-1968. The Air Force sent him to Stanford University in 1963, where

he received an M.S. in Statistics. In 1964 he was transferred to Northern Virginia with an assignment in the computer

division of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). After resigning from the Air Force in 1968 he received a Meritorious

Award from the DIA for work performed on their first time-sharing system, which was probably the first non-academic

time-sharing system in the world. That was the highest award available from DIA to a civilian. From 1966-1968 he

taught several computer courses at The George Washington University as an adjunct.

 

On December, 25, 1958, he married Linda Kay Dancy of Charlotte, N.C. Their marriage was a failure until 1967,

when the Lord sovereignly touched his life during a memorial service for his uncle, Henry G. (Harry) Bell, in Wesley

Memorial Methodist Church of High Point, N.C. As a result, he was born again by the power of the Holy Spirit on

August 25, 1967. One result was that his marriage to Linda began to take a positive upturn. About two months later he

was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Initially, the Lord quickened two major truths to him … the sovereignty of God and the

critical importance of the proper relationship between a Christian and money or material possessions.

 

Very soon after being born from above, the Holy Spirit began to quicken to him the spiritual significance of Scripture.

That revelation increased more and more, particularly in the past ten years. He wrote, edited, and self-published through

a commercial book printer 12 Christian books, which he gave away freely. He also published a book by Marion Fretwell

titled, “The Day of Atonement: Proclaim Liberty,” a book by John Corin of Australia titled, “The Keys to Living in the

Kingdom,” and a book by Raul Arce titled, “Building God’s Way.” He always preferred hymns, because of their majestic

sound.

 

He worked as a computer systems analyst for a private computer software firm from 1968 until 1988. In 1994 he

received a Ph.D. degree in Information Technology from George Mason University. He taught many computer-related

courses at Marymount University in Arlington, VA, from 1988-2001 and as a tenured Associate Professor, starting in 1995. He retired from Marymount in May of 2001. He visited all 50 states, 10 Canadian provinces and territories, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, many Caribbean islands, Libya, and 15 European countries.

 

But the absolute passion in his life was the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He desired, above all else, that the Lord be

glorified in all things … that the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven. He had an intense desire to see the body

of Christ, all Christians, mature into that holy, spotless Bride of Christ. His favorite verse was “Christ in you, the hope

of glory” (Colossians 1:27). To him that meant more than being born from above … it meant the fullness of Christ

within each believer.

 

Robert is survived by his beloved wife of 65 years, Linda, chosen by the Lord as the perfect wife for him; one son, Robert

Martin Padgett, of Springfield, VA, three daughters, Lisa Kay Digges of Norfolk, VA, Laura Elise Burke, of Grand

Rapids, MI, and Katherine Marie Black, of Fairfax, VA; 14 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.

 

A memorial service will be held June 1st at the Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home at 3:00 pm, followed by light

refreshments in the hospitality room.

 

Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home Address: 9902 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA, 22032