Robert Evans Pace, 92, passed away on September 25, 2019 of natural causes at home with his family. Robert was born in Cuba Landing, Tennessee to the late Robert Evans Pace Sr. and Jessie Geneva Field Pace. Bob grew up in rural Humphreys County Tennessee and graduated from Waverly Central High School in the spring of 1943 at the age of 16. He worked in Waverly doing restaurant and construction work. In 1944, he enlisted in the U. S. Navy just before his 18th birthday. He served at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center and in the Philippine Islands. After the war he was discharged on April 6, 1946.
He attended Tennessee Tech on the GI Bill, graduating with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering. He worked three years building cross country natural gas lines, five years with TVA constructing steam and hydro generating plants, and four years with the U.S. Army at Redstone Arsenal working on ballistic missile systems. In 1960 he transferred to the newly organized George C. Marshall Space Flight Center working on space programs including Saturn-Apollo, Skylab, and Spacelab. In 1963, he was selected for study at MIT on a Sloan Fellowship where he earned an MS degree in Management.
He retired from civil service in 1981 after 34 years of federal service. He and his wife Patricia, and another couple, formed Pace and Waite, an engineering management company in 1984. In 2003 the company was sold and he retired for good at the age of 76.
Bob was a devoted family man dedicated to his immediate family and to what had over his 92 years become a large extended family. He was a willing host of family get-togethers often held by the backyard pool or under the gazebo. He supported and always attended family reunions using his interest in genealogy to perform extensive research into the Pace family, serving multiple years as President of the Pace Society of America.
Over the years, Bob’s interests included golf, bridge, motor boating, scuba, Boy Scouting, farming/gardening, Apple computers, trips to the beach, and travel. Bob was a dedicated parishioner of Holy Spirit Church serving in leadership and lay ministry as called.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 46 years, Patricia Florence Pace, son, Michael Evans Pace, his stepmother, Lula Jones Wiles Pace, and his sisters, Ophelia Phillips (James) and Mary Joe Manley (Joe), and his brother, Randall.
He is survived by his wife of 19 years, Ella Dean “Dee” Hargrave Pace and her children, Christopher Hargrave (Michelle), Sharon Bush, and Rebecca Kopicz (Bob), her five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters, Virginia Tate, and Geraldine Curtis; his brothers, Gary and Ronald (Linda); sisters-in-law, Melissa Lehman (John), Patricia Jernigan (Ray), and Wanda Hebert; and brothers-in-law, John L. Trahan (Bonnie) and Darrell Trahan; thirty-four nieces and nephews; and numerous grand and great-grand nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, October 4 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Mr. Pace will lie in state at the church from 9:30 to 11 on Saturday, prior to the service. The Funeral Mass will follow at 11 with Fr. Michael Mac Mahon officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Catholic Charities or the Hospice organization of your choice.
