Source: http://www.freemanfh.com/visitations/View.php?id=1029

ROBERT EARL ``BOB'' JOINER
June 28, 1930 - July 26, 2011

Funeral services for Robert Earl ``Bob'' Joiner of Waynesboro will be held Friday, July 29, 2011, at 2 p.m. at Freeman Funeral Home in Waynesboro with interment to follow at Waynesboro City Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Thursday from 5-8 p.m., also at Freeman Funeral Home.

Joiner, 81, of Waynesboro died Tuesday, July 26, 2011, in Hattiesburg following a lengthy battle with congestive heart failure.

A native of Wayne County and a 1948 graduate of the old Waynesboro High School, Joiner was a member of the first championship football team in Waynesboro history. He would help lead his team to back to back championships in the 1946 and 1947 seasons, with the 1947 team becoming the first team from the area to go undefeated. His athletic play allowed him to receive a scholarship to play football with the University of Mississippi, where he joined the 1948 team. Following a series of injuries including a broken hand and torn knee, Joiner would leave Ole Miss, but remained a lifelong fan and avid supporter until his death.

After a difficult stint on the oil fields of Texas and Oklahoma, Joiner would return to Waynesboro to begin working with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Joiner, in their cleaning business. Joiner desired to be a successful business man, and began selling insurance policies at night while continuing to run a cleaning route during the day. Realizing that two families could not live off of the income from a cleaners and working to see his insurance cliental grow, Joiner would walk away from his parent's cleaners and found Joiner Insurance Agency in 1954. The Agency became very successful and Joiner's son Ernie and grandson Clarke both work in the business today, with Ernie serving as the agency's president.

In addition to founding and serving as president for Joiner Insurance Agency, Joiner stared many other successful businesses including Central Credit Life Insurance and Southeastern Savings and Loan. He also served on the board at First State Bank for 15 years.

In 1969, Joiner was elected mayor of Waynesboro. He served in that post until 1980. His terms as mayor have been described by many as the most progressive of any mayor before or since. During his administration, Joiner brought growth to the town of Waynesboro and the area by securing the highest federal grant rate per capita of any city in the state of Mississippi. With these funds, Joiner was able to get the Waynesboro-Wayne County Memorial Library building constructed, the Waynesboro City Auditorium, build two water tanks, run rail line to the industrial park, blacktop every road in the city limits of Waynesboro, run water and sewer to every home in Waynesboro who did not have it (over 200 did not at that time), update the fire department, and set standards for the police department that are still in place. He was also mayor when the Maynor Creek Reservoir was opened and had countless more improvements to the area during his administration. He did all these things while lowering the millage by 2 mills.

Following his career as Waynesboro's mayor, Joiner decided to run for Southern District Highway Commissioner. Despite being a long-shot, Joiner was elected to the post. He was elected by the narrowest margin in U.S. history, 50.001 to 49.999 percent, a fact that placed him in the Guinness Book of World Records. Much like his administration as Waynesboro's mayor, Joiner got things done as Highway Commissioner. One of his many dreams was to be able to drive from Waynesboro to Jackson on a four-lane highway, and he achieved this. All of the four-lanes around Waynesboro were either started or finished under his administration. One of his proudest accomplishments was the construction of the new Mississippi river bridge in Natchez. He was also responsible for the high rise bridge in Moss Point and was known for voting against any highway bills until highways 84, 45, 98, and 61 were included.

His exemplary performance on the job took Joiner from a five-vote victory to back-to-back re-election landslides as his popularity soared. He was one of the greatest political speakers of all time and many even expected to see Joiner as Mississippi's next governor. Following his political career, Joiner returned home, where he stayed involved in the local community until the day he passed.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Earl and Lorraine Joiner and his sister, Irma Carol Johnson.

He is survived by his wife, Terry Joiner; one daughter, Roxie Joiner Daws and her husband, DeLynn Daws; one son, Ernie Joiner; two step-sons, Lewis Bates and his wife, Stacey Bates and Curtis Bates and his wife, Crystal Bates; one step- daughter, Kim Farris and her husband, Tim Farris; two grandsons, Forrest S. Daws and Clarke Joiner and his wife, Gentry Joiner; one granddaughter, Bethany Daws Cooley and her husband, Chad Cooley; two step-granddaughters, Courtney and Caroline Bates; and one great-grandson, Harrison Daws.

For those wishing to make an offering in lieu of flowers, the family of Robert E. Joiner is requesting donations be made for the benefit of the Waynesboro-Wayne County Museum. An account is being set up at First State Bank.