Robert E. "Bob" Williams was born in a small mid-western town in Indiana in 1923. He married his high school sweetheart six months after her graduation from high school and three days before he entered the U.S. Army in December 1941. They raised six children. With Bob in the Army, his wife, Gerry, followed him to each Army post until he went overseas in late 1944.
When Bob returned from overseas, he left the Army and began attending college at the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio. During school breaks, when the G.I Bill check were not coming in, he found work as a sign painter. After graduation, Bob concentrated on the sign business and bought an undeveloped lot where he hand-built a house for his family.
Bob started his aerospace career working for the Air Force Material Command at Wright-Patterson AFB, in Dayton, Ohio, as an illustrator. He rose to a supervisory position but, realizing the limitations of a civil service career, he decided to move to California to work for the Douglas Aircraft Company where he worked for 30 years. When he started at Douglas, there were C-124s, B-26s, and the XC-133 in the plant. His first assignment was to furnish illustrations for the XC-122. For the Douglas Aircraft Company engineering publications department he created "Yesteryear...." a series of articles on the history of Douglas aircraft that were published world-wide in the "Douglas Service" magazine that was distributed to all users of Douglas aircraft.
In the spring of 1977 he took over the post of managing editor for the American Aviation Historical Society Journal and held that post for twenty-four years. During those 24-years he produced close to 100 issues, developing a new style and increasing its professional quality. He also moved the publication from being hand-produced to being produced by computer.
Robert E. "Bob: Williams died on July 18, 2003.
From the guide to the Robert E. Williams Aviation Collection, 1909-2001, (Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives)
