Obituary for Robert “Bob” Innis

Robert A. Innis

October 4, 1934 – December 30, 2020

Robert Allen (Bob) Innis was born the fourth child of John Philip and Phoebe Roxcena (Reed) Innis in Woodward, Oklahoma, on October 4, 1934. He passed from this life on December 30, 2020, at Oklahoma Methodist Manor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from the effects of the Covid-19 virus.

Bob graduated from Fort Supply High School in 1952 and attended Northwestern State College in Alva, Oklahoma, where he was a four-year letterman in basketball and baseball. On June 6, 1954, Bob married the love of his life, Janice K. Latta, and they lived in Alva until his college graduation in 1956. Upon graduation, Bob went to work at Continental Oil Company (now Conoco-Phillips) in Ponca City, Oklahoma, where he served in various accounting and managerial capacities until his retirement in 1985.

Bob became full-time pastor of Word of Life Christian Center in May of 1985. The church was an outgrowth of a Bible Study Bob, Kerns Allen, Jim Baldwin and Bill Bray started in 1974. While he served as senior pastor of the church, he participated in several mission trips to Germany, Czech Republic, Republic of Slovakia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. In 1994, Bob and Jan spent a year in Uppsala, Sweden, attending the Livets Ord Biblecentre. Upon graduation from the program in 1995, they studied in Israel for 14 days prior to returning to Ponca City and resuming full-time pastoral responsibilities. Bob and Jan loved to garden and take care of the yard and swimming pool. He could grow just about anything and baptized anyone desiring to follow God in that way. In 2011, after a lengthy illness, Janne, Bob’s wife of nearly 57 years passed away. Bob moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 2015 to live near family. And three years later, Bob moved to Oklahoma Methodist Manor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, again to live near family.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, James and William Innis and a sister, Mary Innis Caldwell as well as his beloved wife, Janne. He is survived by his brother, Roy Dean and wife Bertha Innis, four children and their families, Sheree (Jim) Hall, Jackson, Wyoming, Lori (Michael) Collins, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Rob Innis of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Kari (Tracy) Sneed of Joplin, Missouri. Upon his death, Bob was grandpa to 12 and great-grandpa to 16. He always said if he’d known grandchildren were so much fun, he would have had them first!

A family memorial will be held graveside at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at Resthaven Memorial Park Cemetery in Ponca City. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer’s Association or American Diabetes Association would be appreciated. Arrangements are under the direction of Trout Funeral Home & Crematory.

Source: Trout Funeral Home