2013 | Edwin C. Bearss Lifetime Achievement Award

The Rev. Bob Bluford

Man with white hair and a white beard speaking at a podium into a microphone, wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and patterned tie.

Career HighlightsWorld War II Veteran, Presbyterian Minister, Battlefield Preservation Advocate

AwardEdwin C. Bearss Lifetime Achievement Award

Inducted2013

A B-24 bomber pilot in Europe during World War II, the Rev. Bob Bluford (1918-2022) returned home to Richmond, Virginia, to become a Presbyterian minister, a tireless community servant and a dedicated preservationist of the Richmond-area battlefields.

Among his many preservation accomplishments, Bluford was closely involved with the Trust's acquisition in 2000 of a 245-acre historic tract at Malvern Hill in Henrico County. He also helped secure 5.8 battlefield acres at Totopotomoy Creek in 2006.

A decade earlier, in 1995, Bluford worked with developers to buy and preserve 100 acres of battlefield land with intact earthworks at Cold Harbor while allowing a subdivision development to go forward.

His extensive list of public service accomplishments includes co-founding the Fan Free Clinic in Richmond in 1968 and leading the movement to save the pre-Revolutionary War site of Polegreen Church in Mechanicsville.

Bluford celebrated his 100th birthday in December 2018. He passed away on April 30, 2022, at the age of 103, leaving a lasting legacy of community service and battlefield preservation.