NEWS Staff Report
Family man, mentor, friend, educator and leader are superlatives used to describe Robert Lake Tumberlinson, known to many, especially San Benito public school students of years past, as Mr. “T.”
Tumberlinson, 85, passed away surrounded by his family on Monday, October 16, 2023.
According to his obituary, Tumberlinson was born March 27, 1938, in New Haven, Connecticut, to Leon and Grace Russell Tumberlinson. His parents were from Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, where their large families settled in the early 1800s and established the farming community of Morgantown.
“Bob” Tumberlinson, as he was more commonly called, celebrated his fifth birthday on the road to San Benito, where his paternal grandmother owned land, according to his obituary. Raised on a San Benito farm, Bob Tumberlinson found studying plants and animals a natural fit when he reached Texas A&I College after graduating from San Benito High School in 1956.
This love of horticulture stayed with Tumberlinson throughout his life, which he passed down to his children, until the early 1980s when the family sold most of its farm holdings in what currently is the San Benito Industrial Park.
Bob Tumberlinson is preceded in death by his parents, his brother Don, his maternal uncle John (Jean) Russell, his paternal uncle Reuben (Frances) Tumberlinson, and his in-laws, Raul and Celia Longoria. He is survived by his wife Sandra, also a retired educator and known for work with the San Benito Historical Society; his children- daughter Janice and son Robert, Jr. (Mary) from his first marriage to Jahn Locke; his sisters-in-law Arlene Tumberlinson and Dolores Ramirez; his cousins, Carol Tumberlinson Seavey, Jimmy, Lee and Johnny Russell and his nieces LeAnn (Tom) Jaeger and Andrea (Sean) Dvoran.
As a student at San Benito High School, Bob Tumberlinson was active in Future Farmers of America (FFA) and was awarded the highest state award, the Lone Star Farmer Degree.
He was a charter member of the SBHS Key Club and a lifelong member of the Kiwanis Club, serving as president and Lt. Governor of Division 11 of the Texas Oklahoma Division. The highlight of his term as Lieutenant Governor was installing the Matamoros, MX. Kiwanis Club officers in Spanish.
While at A&I University, now Texas A&M-Kingsville, Bob Tumberlinson graduated in 1960 with a commission as Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. He served on active duty in New Orleans and, upon completion, was employed by the USDA in Alvin, TX, where he planned soil conservation activities with local farmers and ranchers.
After active duty, he served in the U.S. Army Reserves for nine years, completing his military obligation in 1969 as a captain and the position of Commanding Officer with the Harlingen U.S. Army Reserve Unit.
In 1962, Tumberlinson accepted a position with the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District, teaching science at San Benito Junior High. He later became an assistant principal and, eventually, principal of San Benito High School for 15 and a half years, a tenure that has yet to be equaled.
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