Individual Details

Robert Spencer Whitlow of Hilton Head Island, SC died peacefully on Monday, April 4, at his home in Palmetto Hall Plantation. He was 96 and the husband of Leila Jane Smith Whitlow for 58 years. Born December 21, 1914, in St. Louis, MO, he was a devoted son of the late Mary Spencer and Joseph Andrew Whitlow and grandson of the late A.N. Spencer, founder of Yukon, OK. Growing up on South Utica Ave. in Tulsa, OK, he graduated from Tulsa Central High and went on to receive a B.A. from the Univ of Chicago and LL.B from Columbia Univ Law School in New York where most of his professional career was spent. Living in New Canaan, CT for 29 years, he served on the town Board of Finance and was dedicated to raising his family of four children with his wife Leila. They moved to the Low Country of South Carolina in 1996. Mr. Whitlow was a Captain in the United States Army Air Corp, 9th US Air Force during WWII serving in the campaigns of Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe, earning the Bronze Star. The service for which he was most proud was his formerly classified role in Military Intelligence working at Bletchley Park, England from where the code breaking efforts of American and British Intelligence and ULTRA emanated. With the deciphering of the top secret German military communications code and the coding machine Enigma, his efforts contributed to many foils of German operations, the successful invasion on D-Day and ultimate Allied victory. During his early career he served in the U.S. Depts of State and Treasury, GE Corp and as attorney in private practice before later work as corporate counsel to Califor- nia Texas Oil Corp, General Precision Equipment Corp and Commonwealth Oil Refining Company, retiring in 1976 from the latter as senior VP, general counsel and corporate secretary. His work took him to many developing oil producing regions of the world to establish legal and business structures for governments and corporations to operate. After retirement, he went on to consulting, being an early innovator in the entry of American petroleum interests into China. Mr. Whitlow was an avid fly fisherman and outdoorsman who loved taking his family on fishing, camping, skiing and historical touring excursions. His many associations included the New York and American Bar Assns, American Foreign Law Assn, American Society of International Law, Ninth Air Force Assn and the Squadron A Assn in New York City among other groups of retired intelligence officers and historical interest. * Graveside services with Military Honors will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery, Tulsa, OK. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Robert Whitlow to Yukon Historical Society at (405) 350-7810, 601 Oak St., Yukon, OK 73099 or, Disabled American Veterans at (877) 426-2838. This obituary was published in the Tulsa World on 4/24/2011.

Birth	21 Dec 1914	St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Draft registration	16 Oct 1940	New York City, New York
Enlistment	6 Oct 1941	New York City, New York
Marriage	23 May 1953	Leila Jane Smith
Residence	Dec 1994	Hilton Head Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina
Death	4 Apr 2011	Beaufort County, South Carolina
Obituary	21 Apr 2011	New Canaan, Fairfield County, Connecticut
Burial		Memorial Park Cemetery, Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma

Spouse	Leila Jane Smith (1929 - 2021)
Child	Living
Child	Living
Child	Living
Child	Living

Notes