Robert Cecil Mccandless

Robert Cecil McCandless was born in Hobart, OK, on July 23, 1937, the fifth male child of Leah and Cecil McCandless. He died Feb. 28, 2014 in Oklahoma City. Bob played football for the Hobart Bearcats and graduated from Hobart High School in 1955. Bob developed an interest in politics and government in high school and these interests were noted by Oklahoma Senator Robert S. Kerr. Kerr asked Bob if he would like to "Intern" in his Washington office and attend college in the District of Columbia (D.C.) Bob enrolled in George Washington University, graduating with a B.A. in 1959. He enrolled in George Washington School of Law, but when Senator Kerr died very suddenly, Bob transferred to OU School of Law, graduating in 1965. At the time of his graduation, Bob was married to Sue Hennings, daughter of Senator Tom Hennings of Missouri. They had two sons, Mark and Kevin. Soon after graduation, Bob took a job as an attorney in the legal division of International Paper Company in New York City. Bob missed D.C., and soon found a position with a D.C. law firm that represented cargo hauling airlines. Bob made friends with a lawyer who had married Bob's wife's sister, Carla. His name was John Dean, an attorney in the Nixon Administration. He and Bob planned to form their own law firm after the Nixon presidency. Then along came what was known as Watergate. Bob represented John Dean before U.S. Senate Committee investigating Watergate, and Dean's testimony was instrumental in the resignation of President Nixon on Aug. 9, 1974. Bob formed his own law firm and represented several large corporations, including Transamerica Corporation, headquartered in San Francisco. Bob's representation of Transamerica lasted almost thirty years, and was terminated only when Transamerica was purchased by a company from the Netherlands. Bob was very active in Democratic politics and was Senator Hubert Humphrey's western states delegate coordinator to the 1968 Democratic Convention held in Chicago. Bob returned to private practice after Humphrey's unsuccessful bid for the Presidency. Bob developed a peripheral neuropathy and entered nursing homes in and around Oklahoma City in 2009. Bob is survived by his long time partner, Sharon Hollis, D.C.; sons, Mark and Kevin; brother, John and wife Helen, sister-in-law, Betty McCandless; and many nieces and nephews and their progeny. He was a wonderful, loving brother. He had a great love of life and the people around him. Sharon remembers Bob telling her that "when God calls me to come home, I'll be ready, for he only takes the best." One of Bob's favorite sayings was that "Republicanism in not a philosophy, it is the rationalization of avarice." Memorial services will be Tuesday, March 11 at 1 p.m. at Mayflower Congregational Church, 3901 NW 63rd Street. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a contribution in Bob's memory to City Rescue Mission, 800 W. California Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73106.