Life Story

The Early Years

Mary graduated from Western Kentucky State University in 1964 with a degree in education and I graduated from Miami University in 1966 with a degree in Architecture.We moved to Lebanon in 1969 about a year after my father, Roy E. Slone, purchased the farm on Monroe Road as an investment (he was a principal in the Cincinnati Public Schools) and moved into the farm house where we commenced a lifetime of reconstruction and modernization of the house that was built about 1880. Bob, Jr. was about a year and a half old when we moved in.

Our family was complete when Stephanie was born in 1969 and son Bill was born in1973. Mary devoted the rest of her early life to raising our children as a mom and homemaker.In 1971 I achieved registration as an architect and shortly thereafter joined Al Voorhis’s architecture firm in Mason where I spent the rest of my career as an architect. That same year I made Christ my Lord and Savior and felt called to join the ministry of the the Gideons International and commenced more than 50 years serving my Lord through that volunteer ministry. For many years Mary served alongside me in that ministry as well.

I was very fortunate to take up an architectural career in this area in those early years as the subsequent growth of the area brought us many significant commissions such as the Warren County Courts Building and many schools such as Bowman Elementary in Lebanon, Little Miami Elementary, the first phase of Southern State Community College in Hillsboro, as well as many other institutional projects such as the Senior Center and Senior Pool for the Countryside YMCA, all of which I designed.

The Rest of the Story

Besides working as an architect, I was blessed to personally distribute thousands of Scriptures to both young and old with my Gideon brothers and to know the joy of leading some to Christ using the little pocket Testament the Gideons carry.  

I spent many hundreds of hours rebuilding and remodeling our home as well as designing and building together with Stephanie and Preston her home on Wilmington Road and assisting my architect son Bill with his project in Cincinnati converting a pre-civil war church to his residence.

I was blessed to have a son, Bob Jr., who loved to organize vacation tours all over the country as well as Canada and Alaska. He got me into motorcycling at age 62 and so many our our trips were by motorcycle. After I retired I took many solo motorcycle trips. I also enjoyed taking Stephanie and Bill on trips in my BMW Z3 Roadster and letting Bill drive my matching Z3 Coupe.

Bob, Jr., lives with me and besides his regular job designing residential landscape lighting, became the farmer on our property, raising and baling hay as well as helping to maintain our home and property.With the help of my children, I cared for Mary in her final years as she battled Parkinson’s. She died on Christmas day in 2022 as we were all together and about to have Christmas dinner at our home.  

As of this writing, September, 2024, I am well and enjoying my retirement years. I especially enjoy watching God’s handiwork in the many glorious sunsets we can see from our property, the highest point in the Lebanon Area.  

Looking back over my life I can see that many times the Lord directed my paths. Now I look forward to meeting my Lord and embracing a young Mary and other members of my family and those Gideon brothers and sisters and other Christian friends that preceded me going home. 

I WILL PRAISE HIS NAME FOREVER MORE!