Robert “Bob” Charles Lane of Charleston, SC and Tryon, NC peacefully passed away on March 18, 2015 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 78. Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 21, 2015 in Harbor View Presbyterian Church, 900 Harbor View Rd, James Island, SC at 11:00 a.m. Interment, Holy Cross Cemetery on Ft Johnson Road. A reception for family and friends will take place after the interment at the James Island Yacht Club. Family will receive friends Friday, March 20, 2015 at J. HENRY STUHR, INC. DOWNTOWN CHAPEL from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Bob was born in Atlanta, GA in 1937, the first son of Charles and Berta Lane. They settled on Memorial Drive and for his first dozen years he led a kid’s life that would have made Huck Finn jealous. By the time his father was transferred to Charlotte, NC in 1949, his family had grown to include his brother Jim and his sister Leila. Bob’s new friends nicknamed him Rex after a popular boxer. He played football at Myers Park High School and met his future bride Jackie on a blind date. After attending Presbyterian College he enrolled in the Marine Corps. A year later
he proposed to Jackie and they were married in August of 1957.

After a three-year tour of duty, Bob left the Marines with the rank of sergeant and a new son. He and Jackie decided to move back to Charlotte to be close to their families. Another son and a daughter and a budding career in real estate quickly followed. In 1965, he accepted an opportunity to move to Charleston, SC and used it as a springboard to form his own company in 1967. Bob Lane Realty grew to become one of the largest real estate brokerage firms in Charleston. He sold the company in 1981 to work exclusively on commercial and investment real estate. Bob had been working on commercial projects for years; he earned his CCIM designation in 1977, one of the first in the state of South Carolina. He founded Lane Properties and invested in and developed commercial real estate individually and with Tamsberg & Lane, Curry-Lane and other partnerships.

He was passionate about his life and the people in it. He loved his family and the long Lane Goodbyes; obsessing on his golf game; sailing circles around Charleston harbor or down to the Bahamas or through the Virgin Islands with life-long friends; skiing in Colorado, and traveling wherever in the world family and friends would go with him. For the last twenty years he took particular pleasure in restoring over a dozen classic British sports cars, mostly Jaguars and MGs, with the occasional Model A Fords – the cars he loved and coveted in his youth. He participated in The Great Race four times crossing from coast to coast in one of his restored cars. In recent years he combined his construction and restoration skills to save and preserve historic buildings in Tryon, NC, his second home. In February, NC’s Main Street Center recognized one of his projects as the best economic restructuring effort in the state.

During Bob’s long career in real estate he had the privilege of mentoring many of today’s leading professionals. His more formal leadership positions included terms as President of the SC Home Builders Association; President of the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association
(Builder of the Year, 1971) and President of the Charleston Board of Realtors (Realtor of the Year, 1981). Always the sportsman, Bob followed his interests in golf, tennis and sailing by stepping into a number of leadership roles including President of the Country Club of Charleston and Commodore of the James Island Yacht Club.

He worked on many community projects and committees as well, including being the host of the TV show ‘Jaycees in Action,’ Chairman of the March of Dimes Telerama, Chairman of James Island Outreach and last year Bob was named Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the Carolina Foothills Chamber of Commerce.

He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Jacquelyn McLarn Lane; his son Scott, his wife Gayle and their two children – Malory and Robby; his son Mark, his wife Jennifer and their three children – Allison, Lindsey and Will; his beloved daughter Chele “Laney” Lane; his brother Jim Lane, his wife Carolyn; and, his sister Leila Jones and her husband Russell.

The family would like to thank Roper Hospice and Home Care Plus for providing care and support during his final days.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bob & Jackie Lane Family Endowment of the Coastal Community Foundation, 635 Rutledge Avenue, Suite 201, Charleston, SC 29403 or to the Bob & Jackie Lane Sunnydale Fund of the Polk County Community Foundation, 255 South Trade St., Tryon, NC 28782.