Dr. Paul Robinson "Bob" Lanier, M.D. was born in Memphis, Tennessee on April 13, 1933. He passed from this life on November 29, 2018 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is preceded in death by his parents, Mary Elizabeth Chisman Lanier Baird and Dr. Paul Story Lanier, his aunts Margaret-Sue Early and Pettus Thompson, and his beloved dog Paris. He is survived by his loving wife, Dr. Jeanne Russell, daughters, Mary-Margaret Bohlen (Michael), Susan Lanier Millerd, and son Paul Robinson "Rusty" Lanier, Jr. (Cathy), stepsons Jim Russell (Sarah) and Barry Boydstun (Huong), grandchildren Wil Bohlen, Allison Johnson (Kurt), Katy Frizzell (Pat), Jeffrey Millerd, Emily Lanier, and Laura Lanier and great-grandchildren, Amelia and Laine Johnson and Reid Frizzell.
A cradle Episcopalian, Bob was a member of Christ Church in Tulsa. Bob was raised in Greenville, Mississippi. He attended Ole Miss before transferring to the University of Arkansas, where he received an undergraduate degree in history. He graduated from the University of Arkansas Medical School in Little Rock and did an internship at St. Vincent's Hospital before going into private practice. He also worked on Navaho and Hopi Reservations in Arizona in the Public Health Service for two years. He began his residency in child psychiatry in 1966 in Tulsa, at Children's Medical Center. He was the Medical Director of Children's Services and later the Medical Director of CMC, where he worked until 1987. Bob began working in forensic psychiatry at Eastern State Hospital, where he was the Medical Director. After the closing of Eastern State, he was the Medical Director of Oklahoma Forensic Center, in Vinita, which he helped design and build.
He was a passionate golfer, an avid reader of fiction and biographies, and loved John Wayne, Willie Nelson, horses, spaghetti and meatballs, and corvettes. Bob also loved to travel and he and Jeanne enjoyed many trips to Grand Cayman, where they were married in 1995, Acapulco, and Europe. He especially loved London and Paris. A champion for the "least of these," Bob was an advocate for the chronically mentally ill, the marginalized, and New Hope, a program which provides assistance and support to children whose parents are incarcerated. Bob was strong-minded and strong-willed and you always knew where you stood with him and what he believed. He was a masterful debater and loved conversation. He spoke his mind. He had many adventures in his very full life and died peacefully, surrounded by friends and family. He remained young at heart and in body for most of his life. Although his physical health had deteriorated over the last few years, he was happy.
Services for Bob will be held at Christ Church, 10901 S. Yale in Tulsa on Wednesday, December 5 at 11:00 a.m. Moore's Southlawn 918-663-2233 share memories at
www.moorefuneral.com