Robert Lee Maples

1920 - 2012  (92 years)

• Name	Robert Lee Maples
  Birth	15 May 1920	Blakely, Early, Georgia
  Gender	Male
  Death	29 Aug 2012	Tallahassee, Leon, Florida
  Burial	Maryland Veterans Cemetery, Crownsville, Anne Arundel, Maryland
  Person ID	I12624	The Road to Here
  Last Modified	12 Aug 2026

  
  

  Father	Roy Ellerbee Maples,   b. 13 Oct 1899, Mitchell, Georgia, United States d. 3 Dec 1919, Decatur, Georgia, United States (Age 20 years)
  Mother	Lillie Dee Hutto,   b. 15 Jun 1900, Crenshaw, Alabama, United States d. 17 Nov 1987, Bainbridge, Decatur, Georgia, United States (Age 87 years)
  Family ID	F8525	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Clara Bessie Gover,   b. 21 Dec 1925, Glenwood, Howard, Maryland d. 3 Mar 2014, West Ocala, Marion, Florida (Age 88 years)
  Marriage	1948
  Family ID	F4255	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Sep 2025

  
  

• Notes

  Robert Lee Maples, 92 of Havana, FL, passed away Wednesday, August 29, 2012 at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, in Tallahassee, FL. The funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 1, 2012 at Faith Funeral Home Chapel, Havana, FL, with Pastor Bill Bess officiating the service. Military honors will follow at the chapel. Internment is scheduled at Crownsville Veterans Cemetery in Crownsville, MD. Family will receive friends after the service. The son of Roy Ellerbe Maples and Lillie Mae Hutto, Mr. Maples served as part of the U.S. Army 38th Engineers, Company "E" during World War II and aided in building the airport on Ascension Island and 12 airports across Africa. He served as one of the first American troops to land on Utah Beach on D-Day during the Normandy Invasion of World War II to diffuse the land mines. He was decorated by General Charles de Gaulle in Paris with the French Croix de Guerre avec Palme, as well as receiving the American Defense and Campaign Service Medals, European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal with bronze arrowhead and two bronze stars, Army of Occupation Medal with Germany bar, World War II Service Medal, and Good Conduct Medal. He recieved a "Dipl?me de Citoyen d'Honneur d'Utah-Beach" from the mayor of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, France in 1992. He traveled to England and France in 1994 to participate in the 50th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion and was awarded the 50th Anniversary Commemoration Medal from the Regional Council of Normandy, France. Mr. Maples created his own construction business in Maryland. He was able to build his wife's dream retirement home and participated in building houses for needy people through Habitat for Humanity. He traveled to California many times and enjoyed touring the West. He was proud of having raised the Army flag at the dedication of The Price of Freedom Veterans Memorial in Havana. He was extremely proud of his son when he graduated from the University of Maryland. Mr. Maples is survived by his wife of 64 years, Clara Maples of Havana; and his son Robert L. Maples, Jr. of Berkeley, CA, one niece, one nephew, two great-nieces and one great-nephew, also four first cousins survive him.