Robert H. Birely, a retired banker who served in the Marine Corps during World War II, died April 4 at Legacy Hospice in Ocala, Fla., of complications from a stroke. He was 91.
The son of Charles Harvey Birely, who worked in scheduling for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and Alice Hardesty Birely, a homemaker, Robert Howard Birely was born in Baltimore and raised on Clifton Avenue.
After graduating in 1943 from Forest Park High School, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was stationed on Saipan and Tinian in the Pacific.
He was a member of an anti-aircraft crew that protected the airfields and the B-29 Superfortress bombers Enola Gay and Bockscar that dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945.
After being discharged in 1946, he studied drafting at the Maryland Institute College of Art and worked for the old State Roads Commission in surveying.
He began his banking career in 1952 with the old Maryland National Bank, now Bank of America, and rose to become vice president. At the time of his retirement in 1988, he was manager of the bank's Perring Parkway branch.
The former resident of Hillendale and Timonium moved to Ocala in 1988.
Mr. Birely was an accomplished woodworker who made furniture, toys and other items for his granddaughters and friends.
He was a fan of the Baltimore Colts and did not miss a game for 20 years, said a son, Wayne Robert Birely of Phoenix in Baltimore County. He was also an Orioles fan and in his youth pitched for the Suburban Club's fast-pitch softball team.
A golfer, he was a member of the Country Club of Maryland, where he assisted with the junior golf program.
At his request, there will be no services.
In addition to his son, Mr. Birely is survived by his wife of 63 years, the former Shirley Clarke; another son, Dr. Brent Clarke Birely of Timonium; and four granddaughters.
—Frederick N. Rasmussen