James Robert (Bob) Dobyns, 85 was born in Blountville, Tennessee on February 28, 1926 and died at his home in Blacksburg, VA on Sunday, January 1, 2012. He was son to the late Richard Allison Dobyns and Martha Snow Dobyns of Dublin, Virginia. Bob was a beloved member of the Pulaski County community and the New River Valley, contributing to many facets of life in Virginia and around the world in his career as a building contractor, politician, farmer and missionary. He was an active participant in the business and educational activities of the community. Bob was the loving and devoted husband of the former Cornelia Otelia Gates for 60 years; and the father of two daughters, Robyn Neil Dobyns and Rebecca Mae Dobyns.

A graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Civil Engineering, Bob was a building contractor for 25 years, building industrial, commercial and educational buildings in the New River Valley including Lane Stadium, Norris Hall and Donaldson Brown at VPI & SU and Muse Hall at Radford University. He was a certified licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Virginia and a past state Director and Treasurer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Virginia Branch. Bob was a veteran of World War II, serving with the 46th Infantry in the Philippines and Japan. Bob was a veteran of the Army Reserve, having served as a paratrooper.

He began his political career as a member of the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors and went on to be elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served seven years in the mid-1980s. His appointments in the House included membership on the Education, Roads, Mining, Agriculture and Finance Committees. He owned and flew a twin engine Piper Comanche plane.

Dobyns' career included owning and operating a beef cattle farm which had been in the Dobyns family for 100 + years and site of the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain on Back Creek in Pulaski County. He supported the agricultural industry in the county as a Director and past secretary of the Pulaski County Livestock Market, Inc. and was a past Director of the Pulaski County Farm Bureau.

An active member of the Board of Directors of the New River Community College Educational Foundation, Inc. Dobyns and his wife were honored in Richmond for having providing scholarships for 124 students at NRCC; to date 154 students have been given scholarship assistance. His religious faith was an important part of the life of a man who lived what he believed. He was a member and trustee of the New Dublin Presbyterian Church. He and his wife, Cornelia, served as Presbyterian Volunteer Missionaries to Zaire, Africa for 2 years where he constructed a hospital in Tshikaji (Kananga), Zaire.

Other business activities included being past Chairman of Sovran Bank, Pulaski Office Advisors Board, a past member of the Town of Pulaski Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals and a past member of the Pulaski County Board of Building Appeals. He was honored in 1971-72 as the Pulaski Jaycee Boss of the Year and given the Pulaski County Chamber Business Executive Award in 1984.

He served as a Director on the board of the New River Valley Habitat for Humanity and was appointed to serve on the Virginia War Memorial Commission and on the Commission on Virginia's Transportation in the Twenty First Century. He is missed for being a gentleman and compassionate and active humanitarian.