Services for Joe Robert "Bob" Pulliam, 76, Lawrence, will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 8, 2005, at Plymouth Congregational Church. Inurnment will be at a later date in Osawatomie Cemetery.

Mr. Pulliam died Sunday, Jan. 2, 2005, at Presbyterian Manor.

He was born June 22, 1928, in Osawatomie, the son of Robert Allen and Gladys Marie Fee Pulliam. He lived in Osawatomie from 1928 to 1946, Lawrence from 1946 to 1986, Wichita from 1986 to 1998, Topeka from 1998 to 2000 and Lawrence from 2000 to 2005. He graduated from Kansas University with a bachelor's degree in economics.

Mr. Pulliam served in the U.S. Marines during World War II. He formerly co-owned Terrill's Department Store and Alice's Closet. He was a realtor with Gill Real Estate and Stephen's Real Estate, both in Lawrence. He co-managed various storage unit complexes in his semi-retirement. He was a member of Kappa Sigma social fraternity and the KU Marching Band from 1946 to 1950.

He was a Lawrence city commissioner from 1969 to 1973 and mayor from 1970 to 1971. He also was a member of the City of Lawrence Planning Commission and Douglas County Planning Commission. He worked on the Lawrence Public Library, Lawrence downtown redevelopment, and Lawrence public swimming pool as commission projects.

Mr. Pulliam was co-founder of the Lawrence Aquahawks and Bells and Beaux Square Dance Club. He was a lifetime honorary member of the Girl Scouts, where he served on the board of directors and was a member of the Finance Committee of Kaw Valley Girl Scouts. He was a president of Pinckney PTA and a member of Plymouth Congregational Church.

He married Alice Terrill on Jan. 26, 1951, in Lawrence. She died Nov. 29, 2004.

Survivors include four daughters, Stephanie Pulliam, Wichita, Terri Pulliam, Kansas City, Mo., and Cammie Braden and Lisa Pulliam, both of Lawrence; a brother, Richard, St. Joseph, Mo.; and nine grandchildren.

E-mail condolences may be sent to info@warrenmcelwain.com, subject: Pulliam.

The family suggests memorials to Douglas County Visiting Nurses Assn., sent in care of the mortuary.

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE LAWRENCE PAPER ON JANUARY 3, 2005: 

A longtime downtown businessman and former mayor who served on the City Commission during the turbulent late 1960s and early 1970s died Sunday, January 2, 2005, in Lawrence.

Joe Robert "Bob" Pulliam, 76, who was both pro-business and liberal on social issues, served a four-year term on the City Commission starting in 1969 and spent a year as mayor starting in 1971. The era was marked by racial tensions, firebombings and shootings.

Pulliam's family members remember him volunteering as a police dispatcher during a city-imposed curfew, riding along with police and coming home one night having caught pepper spray in the face.

"I think Bob was a wholesome influence, and he was a moderating voice" at the time, said Dick Raney, a fellow downtown merchant who served on the commission before Pulliam. "A person that tried ... the moderating route wasn't particularly popular with the far left or with the vigilante types. We just didn't know who our friends were. It was a nice thing to get home at night."

As owner of two downtown shops -- first Terrill's department store, then Alice's Closet -- Pulliam was an advocate for economic growth and downtown redevelopment. He believed in racial equality and pushed for the municipal pool to be built downtown, where children from east Lawrence could walk to it, family members said.

"He cared about all kinds of people in the community. People were people and we cared about them all, no matter what their issues were in their life," said Cammie Braden of Lawrence, one of Pulliam's four daughters.

Early in life Pulliam was a Republican, but he later registered as a Democrat. He earned a degree in economics from Kansas University in 1952, served four years on the city and county planning commission in the 1960s, and later was a real estate agent and partner in a construction firm.

Pulliam suffered a stroke several years ago and had other health problems, and family members say his condition worsened after his wife of 50 years, Alice, died Nov. 29.

Services for Pulliam are pending at Warren-McElwain Mortuary