Robert Langdon “Bob” Foreman, Jr.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175682225/robert-langdon-foreman

Robert Langdon Foreman, Jr. known to one and all as “Bob,” passed away on January 22, 2017. Born in Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital, Bob was the first son of Trot and Mary Foreman. He was descended from the Sheddens of New York City, the Foremans of Washington, Georgia, and the Howells and the Rawsons, both pioneer Atlanta families. While his great-grandfather Evan P. Howell fought in the Battle of Peachtree Creek, another great-grandfather town Councilman E.E. Rawson petitioned Sherman not to occupy Atlanta. After the war, E. P. Howell purchased the Atlanta Constitution and elevated the paper to a national institution.

Bob Foreman was an inspiration to all who knew him, precisely personifying the motto of The Taft School (where he prepped) “To Serve, and not to Be Served.” He graduated Chapel Hill Phi Beta Kappa in 1946; Harvard Law in 1949; and as a Navy reservist, he attained the rank of Lt. Commander.

A founding member of the law firm Bird & Howell, later to become Alston & Bird, Bob served the better part of his forty years there as Commercial Real Estate head. He was considered “the lawyer’s lawyer,” and he sheparded the careers of many young attorneys. First and last, he was a Southern Gentleman, with enormous charm and a great sense of humor.

Bob’s higher works were outside of the office, all given pro bono: over his lifetime, he headed the Atlanta and Georgia Bar Associations; the EOA; the Atlanta Legal Aid and United Way; the MARTA ethics committee; and the Highlands (NC) biological station, which his family had created. He served in a number of lay positions at the Cathedral of St. Philip.

But his highest achievement, working with his great friend Joe Patten, was the saving of the Fox Theatre from the wrecking ball in 1975. In 2010, he was one of three on the Fox Board to vote against the eviction of Patten from his Fox apartment, and thus at age 84, Bob had to fight against his own law firm, which represented the Fox. He suggested that Patten hire attorney Emmett Bondurant, and he won the case.

As a teen, Bob joined with other boys to form “The Junior Georgians,” a Society Dance Band where he played the clarinet and served as vocalist. That group of boys comprised what few have, lifelong friends dating back to their days at E. Rivers.

Bob was predeceased by his first wife Betty, his son Jim, and by his younger brother Rawson.

He leaves behind his wife Anne Kelcovic Foreman and his children Robert III and Alex a.