86, of Macomb
Dr. Robert Wayne Jefferson, 86, of the Bickford Senior Living Center, Macomb, Illinois, passed away at 1:30 a.m. on March 25, 2026 in Macomb.
He was born June 5, 1939 in Davenport, Iowa to Lewis and Virginia Jefferson. He married Sally Ann Wallace on June 11, 1961 in Reinbeck, Iowa. She survives. He is survived by their children, Diane Gilbert of Gilbert (Ariz.), Kurt (Lori) Jefferson of Jeffersontown (Ky.), and Karen (Kurt) Kelso of Macomb (Ill.); seven grandchildren, Jeffrey (Addie Moy) Gilbert, Jason (Danielle) Gilbert, Jill (Ryan) Van Dolah, Kelly (Andrew) George, Jenna (Tyler) Dively, Megan Jefferson, and Nicole (Gregory) Ritter; eight great-grandchildren: Aden Gilbert, Oliver Gilbert, Devyn Gilbert, Cade Van Dolah, Everly George, Bennett Van Dolah, Beckett George, and Griffin Ritter. He was preceded in death by his parents, older brother, Dale Jefferson, and son-in-law, David Gilbert.
He grew up on a farm in Central Iowa milking cows, baling hay, and was a graduate of Clemons (Iowa) High School where he was a basketball star earning first-team all-county and all-state honorable mention honors, playing on a Class B state “Sweet 16” team in 1955-56. He played at Marshalltown (Iowa) Community College as well. He earned a bachelor’s degree (1961) and a master’s degree (1963) in business education from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. He later earned a PhD in business marketing from the University of Iowa (1972). He lived in Macomb (Ill.) from 1965-89 and from 2020-26, Bloomington (Ill.) from 1989-96 and from 2006-20, and Bowling Green (Ky.) from 1996-2006. After teaching high school (and umpiring high school and college baseball) in the Chicago area in the early 1960s, he and his wife Sally Ann settled in Macomb, to raise their young family, and embark on a long and distinguished 41-year career in university teaching, scholarship, and administration which started in 1965 on the College of Business faculty at Western Illinois University (WIU). Bob taught advertising, survey research, industrial marketing, and MBA courses. He co-authored with WIU colleagues (in 1978) a leading marketing textbook that was adopted by several large universities. He served as chair of the Marketing and Finance Department, dean of the College of Business, and associate provost from the early 1970s until 1989 when he left WIU to become dean of the College of Business at Illinois State University. He retired in 1996 from higher education in Illinois and relocated to Bowling Green, Kentucky where he was appointed dean of the Gordon Ford College of Business at Western Kentucky University from 1996-2006. At WKU, he led in raising the single largest gift ($10m) - at that time - in the history of the university. Bob was visiting professor in Scotland at the University of Aberdeen in fall 2003 and was a visiting professor twice - with his son Dr. Kurt Jefferson - at ICN Graduate Business School in Nancy, France in 2008 and 2010. For his service to the state of Kentucky and higher education, Bob was named a “Kentucky Colonel,” the highest civilian honor in the Commonwealth, by Governor Ernie Fletcher in 2006. He retired from WKU in 2006 after 41 years in higher education and over 20 years as a senior administrator. Bob was active in youth sports, coaching, a board member of the McDonough County YMCA and the Colchester State Bank. He was a life-long athlete and loved tennis, racquetball, and golf. His “15-minutes of fame” was defeating American country singing sensation Lee Greenwood in racquetball on July 4, 1987 in Macomb at the YMCA. As a result, Greenwood kindly gave Bob four tickets to his show that night at Western’s Hanson Field.
Bob loved his family and the love of his life, Sally Ann, who he was married to for 64 years. They traveled widely in Europe together. He also traveled and worked in Asia and Egypt as a university academic dean and professor. He had a solid faith in Jesus Christ that began as a boy in 1956 in a rural central Iowa church and he was a long-time member of the Wesley United Methodist Church in Macomb. He loved his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. As he grew older in retirement he cherished being around his great-grandchildren in Illinois and Kentucky. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend. Bob was an accomplished singer and piano player (having sung in the All-State choir in Iowa and having taken 13 years of piano lessons, he could play just about any song by ear, especially Meredith Wilson’s “Iowa Fight Song” to the delight of his grandkids and great-grandkids). He sang in the local Barbershop chorus in his early days in Macomb. His favorite quote was “Knowledge comes but wisdom lingers.”
A graveside service will occur at the Oakwood Cemetery in Macomb, Illinois at 11:00 am on Monday, March 30, 2026.
Memorials may be made to the Western Illinois University (WIU) College of Business or the “Dr. Robert W. Jefferson Merit Scholarship Fund” at Western Kentucky University (WKU).
Clugston-Tibbitts Funeral Home in Macomb is in charge of arrangements.
You may leave condolences and sign the guest book online at clugston-tibbitts.com.
