Robert Lee Conkle I

Robert Lee Conkle I, a lifelong resident of Chester passed away at the Stone Pear Pavilion on Wednesday, March 21, 2018, after failing health for the past couple of years.

He was born at home on the family farm near Chester on May 18, 1933. 84 years old, he was a son of the late Robert M. and Maxine Mary Allison Conkle.

Bob farmed alongside his father at the Conkle Farm in Chester until 1966, when he and his brother assumed full control of the farm. For a couple of years, Bob worked the midnight shift at the former TK Roofing in Chester, in addition to farming, just to make some extra money to buy a new greenhouse and a tractor for his son Lee. He graduated from the former Chester High School in 1951. Bob loved farming, and he loved the land that he worked, he was very proud of his farm. He also loved hunting, especially those little varmint’s called groundhogs.

Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, Richard Eric Conkle and his sister, Patricia McAvoy.

Bob loved his family, he and his wife, Elva Jean Finley Conkle, who survives at home, raised three beautiful children who also survive, Robert Lee Conkle II and his wife Nancy of New Cumberland, Brent A. Conkle and his wife Yoshie of Tokyo, Japan, and Heidi Warner and her husband, Boyd of Charleston, WV. He also leaves his brother, Fred Conkle and his wife Sue of Chester; his grandchildren, Justin (Amanda) Conkle, Jessica (Alan) Buzzard, and Xavier and Jasmine Conkle; his great-grandchildren, Cheyenne and Savannah Buzzard, and Maxinne Conkle; and several nieces and nephews.

His brother-in-law, Pastor Tom Schneidmiller, will celebrate Bob’s life at the Arner Funeral Chapel in Chester on Saturday, March 24, at 1:00 p.m. Interment will follow at the Locust Hill Cemetery in Chester. Friends are invited to visit with the family at the funeral home today, Friday, from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. and on Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until the time of the service.

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