Robert Thacker

Robert Thacker was born on August 12, 1939 in Bruce, Mississippi. His parents are Johnny Miller Thacker and Rosevelt Thacker. He attended school in Oak Ridge and Knoxville before enrolling in Clinton High School in August of 1956. After the completion of his Junior year at Clinton High School, he moved with his parents to Mount Clemens, Michigan and graduated in 1958 from Mount Clemens High school. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. His job while in the U.S. Army was in the Artillery Division. After serving his tour with the U.S. Army, he took a job with the Ford Motor Plant in New Haven, Michigan. He met and married his wife of 43 years Yvonne Thacker. He and Yvonne have five children, and he has five other children from previous relationships, including a daughter who lives in East Tennessee (Valerie Weaver). After several years of working at the Ford Motor Company, he operated his own trucking firm in Pontiac, Michigan where he lived until his retirement two years ago. He has since moved to Holly, Michigan, with his wife, son, and grandson. According to Robert, these days you can find him taking it easy and relaxing on his ½ acre property where his is 2 miles away from the nearest neighbor. When asked about his memories of August 1956, he said he doesn’t remember much about that time at all, but he does remember that there was an incident at school and all the students had to be picked up and driven up the hill to safety.