Robert Tatum Groome

Robert “Bob” Tatum Groome of Atlanta died at home on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at age 82 after battling throat cancer.

Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bob grew up in Asheville, North Carolina and graduated from Lee Edwards High School. At Davidson College, he excelled in collegiate baseball, was a Sigma Chi fraternity brother and received an ROTC scholarship. After graduating from Davidson, Bob served in the U.S. Army at Fort Sill, Lawton, Oklahoma and later in the U.S. Army Reserves, rising to Captain.

Bob enjoyed golf, tennis, fishing, and lake time. Although easy-going and a friend to everyone, he was quite an athletic competitor. He won the Asheville Open Tennis Tournament twice in his younger years, won multiple Charlotte tennis tournaments and competed in many golf tournaments in Atlanta and throughout the southeast.

Professionally, as a true people-person, Bob was a natural in commercial sales and financing for SouthTrust Bank, U.S. Leasing and other national financial institutions.

Bob was the son of Jennings & Neal Groome of Asheville and is survived by his wife of 30 years, Jan Hull; son Robert T. Groome, Jr. of Santa Monica; daughter Leigh Ann Groome of Atlanta and two adult grandsons, Michael Groome and Giordano Bonora-Groome. He is also survived by a sister, Sara Ann Hiatt of Raleigh, a brother, George Groome of Asheville, a sister-in-law, Karen Rudge Groome of Columbia, South Carolina, as well as three generations of nieces and nephews.

The family will have a celebration of life in the future. The family request that any memorial gifts be directed to the American Cancer Society or your local Hospice.