ROBERT “SHIG” PORTER
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
1938-2007

“ His life was gentle, and the elements so mix’d in him that Nature stand up and say to all the world, “ This was a man!’.”- Shakespeare

SAVANNAH, GA – Robert Shig Porter, a life-long resident of Savannah passed away on Saturday, August 11, 2007 at the age of 69. Born in Savannah, Georgia on June 21, 1938, he was the second son of the late Alice Marion Dudley and Marion McNeil Porter, one-time Mayor Pro-tem of the City of Savannah from 1947-49. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Barbara Porter, two daughters Marylee Alice Porter, Rachael America Porter and his son, Robert Shig Porter, II. Sister Nancy Porter Adams, brother George David Porter, numerous cousins and several nieces and nephews.
A graduate of Savannah High School in 1956, Bob went on to study Physics at Armstrong College. While still in college he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve and graduated from Armstrong in 1958. In 1960 he was ordered to active duty in the U.S. Navy and served during the Cold War aboard the destroyer escort-U.S.S. Douglas H. Fox. His naval service and special assignments required him to patrol the waters near the artic circle and the northern coast of Russia, the monitoring of the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, and received orders to address militarily a Crisis in the Congo. At the close of his tour he was stationed at Guantanamo Bay on the eve of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1962 while at Norfolk, Virginia he received his honorable discharge and returned to Savannah.
He attended Auburn University to study Engineering. Bob went on to work for Union Camp Corporation as an Industrial Engineer. After eight years he was chosen as Chamber Executive for the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce. As Chamber Executive he was responsible for planning the Bi-Centennial Celebration for the city of Savannah in 1976. Involved in the earliest growth of tourism in Savannah he aided in strategic planning to encourage the coverall economic growth of the city. He was responsible for the grand fireworks displays that Savannah hosted each year on the Fourth of July.
Throughout the 1980’s Bob Porter chose a new career path and both he and his Staff soon became the most notable Marketing & Public Relations team in the history of Savannah Healthcare. Their initiatives possessed a transforming power that changed the face of medicine in this region forever. While working with Memorial Hospital, he improved the circumstances of indigent patients within the facility and was entrusted with the largest Marketing & Public Relations budget in annals of Healthcare in this city. His influence helped to effect the creation of the LifeStar & MedStar Medical transport systems, the installation of the first Lithotripsy device in the region, the establishment of the Children’s Hospital within a Hospital and the birth of Savannah’s first Ronald McDonald House. He also was a primary encourager of the neonatal unit at Memorial Medical Center.
During the 1990’s Bob was asked by the Candler Hospital Board of Trustees to come transform Candler Hospital’s image in the same manner as Memorial Hospital. While at Candler Hospital Bob inspired many to the creation of the Heart and Lung Building, his team was integral in the success of the first Candler Chest Pain Center. His years devoted service at Candler Hospital brought tremendous unity to the Medical Facility. He labored tirelessly on the Legislative Council of the Georgia Hospital Association to provide a higher quality of Healthcare for all Georgians. His love of medicine did not stop there, in 1977 he opened his service as Chairman of the Southeast Chapter of the March of Dimes and worked with the American Heart Association and raised millions of dollars to prevent birth defects and heart disease.
Bob’s life was extraordinary and filled with active benevolence and civic mindedness. He served on Numerous Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce Task Forces and Committees, concerning Legislation and long range planning, was a member of the Savannah Symphony Board of Directors, and was a member of the Association of Hospital Philanthropy, was the Historian & Curator of the Savannah Cotton Exchange & Museum 1973-2007, a Board Member and Life Member of the Georgia Salzburger Society, the Historian & Curator of the William Bordley Clarke Library & Museum, Historian of America’s Oldest Living Lodge of Freemasons: Solomon’s Lodge No.1 , F&AM. 1972-2007, He was the official Custodian & Conservator for 30 years of the famed “Oglethorpe Bible” the gift of James Oglethorpe to his Masonic Brethren in 1733. He was a long-standing member of the Education and Historical Commission of the Grand Lodge of Georgia F&AM The Oldest Continuously Operating English Constituted Lodge of Freemasons in the Western Hemisphere. Thirty-third Degree Inspector General Honorary of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Savannah. Member of Alee Shrine Temple 1962-2007, and Past President of the Ritualistic Divan 1972, Member of the Royal Order of Jester’s – Royal Court 134 – Past Director 1997-1998, Savannah Lions Club, and Savannah Rotary Club. Bob Porter lived his entire life to help ameliorate the sufferings of his fellow man through Healthcare. He always lived by the motto that we should do all things “Not for ourselves but for others”. May God Bless Him and Keep Him, and may his face shine upon him forever. Amen – So mote it be.

Visitation will be Friday, August 17, 2007 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors Hodgson Chapel.
Funeral Services will be Saturday, August 18, 2007 at 11 a.m. at Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors Hodgson Chapel with the Reverend John Anderson officiating.
Burial will be in Bonaventure Cemetery.
Active Pallbearers will be David George Porter, Michael McNeil Porter, Patrick Scott Porter, Michael Aaron Newton, John Ethan Hollis Baldwin, James Wickham Bell, Larry Monroe Driver and Jeffery Lamar Driver.
Honorary Pallbearers will be the Past Masters of Solomon’s Lodge

Memorials may be sent to the John G. Kennedy Memorial Scholarship Fund, and or Solomons’s Lodge Almoner’s Charity Fund at Solomons’s Lodge No. 1 F&AM.- P.O. Box 1734 Savannah, GA 31402.