Robert Arland Hively

Robert Arland Hively, still striving to understand the unity of science and religion at the age of 101, died peacefully in hospice care on Friday June 24, 2022, in Akron, Ohio. Bob was born in Salem, Ohio, on the 27th of April 1921 to William Leroy Hively and Irene Katy J. Miles. He began his education in a one-room schoolhouse and worked his way through the University of Mount Union in Alliance, earning a bachelor’s degree in science with a minor in religion. After his graduation in 1943, he was drafted into the US Army and was a front-line medic with the 2nd Armored Division during campaigns in France and Belgium, including the Battle of the Bulge. He served with distinction and received two Purple Hearts for injuries sustained and both Bronze and Silver Stars for bravery. Bob was interviewed by the Akron Beacon Journal about his war experiences, which were published on November 11, 2021 <https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/2021/11/11/world-war-ii-vet-100-conscientious-objector-honored-bravery/6247760001/>. 

Following the war, he earned a Master of Science degree at Akron University while working as a research chemist at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, where he was employed for 47 years. In retirement Bob especially enjoyed visiting and playing games with his children and grandchildren. He volunteered along with his wife, Elva, at Good Neighbors, Inc., of Akron and later cared for her with loving tenderness during her long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. Miriam Elva Braziell, his wife of 71 years, died in May of 2020. He was also predeceased by his siblings, Beatrice Ethel (John) Lutz, Eugene Freeman (Jane) Hively, Genevieve Fay (Eugene) Steves, and Mary Lou (James) Wolfe. He is survived by his two children, William (Helen Skeist) of Canaan, New Hampshire, and Jane (Robert) Barber of Brooklyn, New York; five grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters. If you would like to remember Dad with a donation, please consider First Christian Church of Cuyahoga Falls, Good Neighbors, Inc., or the American Friends Service Committee. The family would like to extend their thanks especially to Rockynol Assisted Living and to the First Christian Church for their loving care and support of Dad and Mom’s earthly and spiritual needs. 

The family will gather for a private memorial ceremony at a later date.

Arrangements entrusted to Clifford-Shoemaker Funeral Home & Crematory, 330-928-2147.