Robert Shannon Christopher was born in Limestone County, Alabama on April 25, 1932 and died in Forsyth County, Georgia on December 29, 2021. While Robert S. Christopher was his official legal name, he was better known as Bob, Brother Bob, Uncle Bob, Pastor, Preacher, Dad, Daddy, Dooda, Cricket, Uncle Cricket, Papaw and most importantly a Faithful Servant of the Most High God.
He was the second of five children born to Mahlon and Martha Christopher. He has an older sister, Anita Page and a younger brother, Jerry Wayne, who are deceased. He has two living younger brothers, Mahlon Eugene “Butch” Christopher and his wife Rhoda and Horace Benjamin Christopher and his wife Kathy. Bob is survived by his wife, Ruthann, to whom he was married for 59 years, and their four children, Kathryn Ruth Morris and her husband Kent, Paul Robert “PC” Christopher and his wife Laura, Karen Sue Whittington and her husband Larry, and Carolyn Anita Thompson and her husband Steve. He is also survived by his “adopted” son Mark Junaluska, whom he led to the Lord during high school English.
Bob also leaves behind a rich legacy with his 12 grandchildren and 8 grandchildren-in-law (Brandon & Claudia Morris, Brooke and Jake Christopher, Bridget and Robert Cantu, Brianna Morris and Derrick Rudkins, Brittany and John Hackleman, Ashlee and Samantha Charland, Robert P. Christopher, Caleb and Caitlin Whittington, Sarah Whittington, Abby Dee Thompson, Lindsey Thompson, Allison and Mitchell Mosley) and his 12 great grandchildren (Cheyenne Morris, Aedan Morris, Camila Morris, Alex Morris, Ximena Morris, Journey Christopher, Arden Christopher, Casey Rudkins, Zealand Hackleman, Baby Hackleman, Aspen Mosley, and Amelia Mosley).
After graduating from Athens Elementary and Athens High School, Bob joined the Navy and trained to be a hospital corpsman and served stateside. Later, he found work at Caterpillar Tractor in Peoria, Illinois. A friend invited Bob to Bethany Baptist Church, where he received Christ as his Savior and his life truly began. In the fall of 1957, Bob lost his job at Caterpillar but continued teaching and preaching at Peoria City Rescue Mission.
Several of Bob’s friends from church decided to go to Prairie Bible Institute. Since Bob felt that God was calling him to preach, he went along. At the end of his junior year at P. B. I., Bob went to British Honduras to work with the missionaries there. While there, he met the love of his life, Ruthann Shepherd, who was a short-term missionary from Moody Bible Institute. They courted and became engaged via written letters and a year later, when Bob graduated from P.B.I, and Ruthann graduated from M. B. I., they got married in Ontario, Canada on August 25, 1962.
Bob accepted a pastor’s scholarship to Greenville College to pursue an undergraduate degree. When Bob graduated, they moved to the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. In 1969, they moved to New York City, where Bob got a degree in English as a second language. After returning to the Navajo reservation for another year, Bob accepted a job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Cherokee, North Carolina. In Cherokee he served the Lord as a high school teacher and administrator where he loved and ministered to the kids God put in his classes. In addition, he served as the Baptist Association minister which allowed him to preach in all the local churches as needed. He was so well loved by the Cherokee people that they made him an honorary member of the tribe. In 1981 Bob took a part time job as pastor of Hamburg Baptist Church in Glenville, NC. This became a full-time pastorate for 11 years following his retirement from the BIA.
While at Hamburg Church, Bob began taking missionary trips with International Commission and eventually took a total of 52 trips—all over the world. In 1992, Bob accepted a pastorate at Acquoni Baptist church on the Cherokee Reservation and continued mission trips.
In 2004, Bob and Ruthann moved to Texas, and Bob continued taking mission trips. On his last trip to Ecuador, in 2014, Bob developed a blood clot in his left leg that travelled through his heart to his lung and flying was no longer an option, however he continued to work with IC to equip other missionaries.
In February 2020, he and Ruthann moved to Cumming, GA to live with his daughter Karen, where he continued to bring joy to everyone around him until the very end. He ran his race well, he finished the course, and is now in the presence of his Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!
A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, January 7, 2022 at Berkshire Chapel, 9073 Berkshire Drive, Frisco, Texas 75033. Interment is to follow at Ridgeview West Memorial Park in Frisco. The service will be livestreamed at the following link; https://celebrationoflife.tv/blog/robert-s-christopher
The family will receive family and friends during a visitation on Thursday, January 6, 2022 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Berkshire Chapel.