Lt. Col. (Ret) Robert Andrew Martindale

Robert Andrew Martindale was a man of strong conviction.

He served his country, worked for those most in need in his community, loved his family and had unwavering faith in the Lord.

Bob was born Jan. 18, 1944, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He passed on March 16, 2025, at Stone Oak Methodist Hospital. He was 81.

Bob was adopted as an infant by Truman Andrew Martindale and Sarah Anna Slaight Martindale. He grew up in Arkansas, in a house with dirt floors and an outdoor toilet. What his parents lacked in money, they made up in love and guidance, working long hours and stressing the importance of education.

Thanks to their support and his determination, Bob graduated from Arkansas Polytechnic College (now known as Arkansas Tech University) in 1966 with a bachelor of arts degree. His love of learning continued throughout his life, and he earned a master’s degree in human relations from Webster University in 1983.

His long, distinguished military career got its start in college, when he joined the ROTC and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He began active-duty service in the U.S. Army on Sept. 1, 1966. Soon after, he was deployed to Vietnam. During his military service, he received honors including a bronze star, meritorious service medal, joint service commendation medal, national service medal and Vietnam service medal.

From Vietnam, he went to Abilene, Texas, where he met the love of his life, Doris Jane, and her daughter, Beverly. Beverly and Cyndy, his daughter from his first marriage, dressed in blue dresses like Jane to witness the marriage in 1970.

As is true for many military families, the new family moved often. The first stop was Indiana and then Killeen, Texas, where they welcomed a son, Rob. The next move was to Belgium, where they had a daughter, Sarah. Their next station was Fort Belvoir, in Virginia, where their son Carlton was born. The family then headed to Germany before making the final stop at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where Bob retired from the military as a lieutenant colonel in April 1990.

While serving his country in the Army, he also served God. While stationed overseas, he and Jane were active in chapel ministries, and when stateside, they were faithful members of the United Methodist Church, including more than three decades as congregants of Windcrest UMC.

It was in San Antonio that Bob began the next phase in his life of service. He became executive director of SAMMinistries, a nonprofit organization serving the homeless. Under his leadership, SAMM opened a transitional living facility at the former Mount Sacred Heart Convent on Blanco Road. The facility’s goal was to help families move from homelessness into financial independence. He retired from SAMM in 2007.

While working at SAMM, Bob and Jane began fostering babies awaiting adoption. In 1997, they opened their home to one of those children for good, adopting Leigh Anne as their own.

But Bob’s family wasn’t done growing. His college roommate Carl Barger, a longtime educator and amateur genealogist, helped Bob track down the name of his birth mother, Cleo Mildred Davis, which led to him to his half-sister, Janice, and two nephews. Bob was delighted to get to know his long-lost family members.

Bob once wrote up his life story, calling it From the Outhouse to the White House. That’s because while at an event in San Antonio, he ran into a friend from high school, Billy Clinton, who invited him and Jane to visit in Washington, D.C. But the title also reflects his extraordinary life, from earning 33 cents an hour as a soda jerk in Arkansas to an office in the Pentagon, to raising millions of dollars for the homeless, all while keeping faith and family as his north star.

Bob is survived by his daughters, Cyndy Strickland (Derek) of Anchorage, Alaska, Beverly (Mark) Horvit, of Columbia, Missouri, and Leigh Martindale, of San Antonio; his sons, Rob (Kylie) Martindale and Carlton (Amanda) Martindale, both of San Antonio; and ten grandchildren, Elena (Gavin Power) and Nate Horvit, SaraBeth Strickland, and Cody, C.J., Blake, Caden, Declan, Grace and Dominic Martindale.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Jane; his daughter, Sarah Waldeen Martindale; his parents, Truman and Sarah Martindale; and his in-laws, Carlton and Waldeen Thomson.

A family graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at Chapel Hill Funeral Home, 7735 Gibbs Sprawl Road, in San Antonio. A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. at Windcrest United Methodist Church.

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial sent to SAMMinistries or Windcrest United Methodist Church.