Date of Birth

Date of Death

Mini Biography

Robert Owen Atcher was born in Hardin County, Kentucky on May 11, 1914. His parents were George Christopher Atcher and Mary Agnes Ray Atcher. George Atcher was a champion fiddle player, and the Atchers had a family band that played Appalachian folk music and bluegrass. The family moved to North Dakota when Bob was 4 years old, after the Federal government acquired the family farm to become part of Fort Knox Reservation. In North Dakota, Bob learned cowboy songs from the ranch hands, and learned to play guitar and accompany his father. When the family returned to Kentucky they played shows in the region, and he later attended the University of Kentucky in pre-med, where he had a radio show as the Kentucky Mountain Minstrel. He was approached to move to WSB in Atlanta, and after a few years honing his skills at several radio stations owned by the Atlas brothers, he began recording for Columbia Records. His biggest records were, "You Are My Sunshine (1940)", "Cool Water (1940)", "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes (1941)" and "Pins and Needles in My Heart (1942)". Although known primarily as a radio and television entertainer, Bob Atcher appeared in two movies for Columbia Pictures, Panhandle Trail (1941) and Hail to the Rangers (1942). He performed with three partners who sung with him as Bonnie Blue Eyes: Loeta Applegate Atcher, his first wife; Mary Jane Johnson of the Johnson Sisters; and Marguerite Whitehill "Maggie" Atcher, his second wife, to whom he was married from November 29, 1947 until his death. Bob and Maggie Atcher appeared together on the National Barn Dance on WLS in Chicago, after Bob joined the show as a regular in 1949. They had three children, Robert Whitehill Atcher, Mary Christopher Atcher, and Cecily Ann Atcher. Bob Atcher also appeared on various television shows in Chicago, including Meadowgold Ranch, and the Barn Dance. In 1958, he was elected mayor of Schaumburg, Illinois, a village about 35 miles northwest of Chicago. He served for 16 years as mayor, during which time the town experienced unprecedented growth, but in an orderly, planned, way that was attributed largely to his vision and leadership. During his tenure, Woodfield Mall was built there, which was considered the largest shopping center in the world at that time. Schaumburg also became a sought-after location for corporations and industry. Atcher retired from politics in 1974, and returned to performing with his wife and children as the Bob Atcher Family Singers. His wife, Maggie, still lives in Prospect, Kentucky, a suburb of Louisville, where they moved in 1989. Bob Atcher died on October 30, 1993.

Spouse

Lester McFarland \x26quot;MAC \x26amp; BOB\x26quot; Robert ...

9:00 a.m.–10:15 a.m.