Robert D. "Bob" McFee

Robert “Bob” McFee passed away in his home on Sept 8, 2026 at the age of 100 after a long life that had a significant impact on Battle Creek and the Michigan area. He was born July 5, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Roy Ernest McFee and Helen Gifford McFee.

Bob grew up in Detroit and graduated from Redford High School. During World War II, he enlisted for military service in the U.S. Army Air Forces in January 1945, spending part of his service at Keesler Field in Mississippi before being honorably discharged after the war.

After the war, Bob enrolled at the University of Michigan College of Engineering, where he also played the saxophone in the Michigan Marching Band. He also was a member of Theta Delta Chi Fraternity where he made friends who kept in touch socially for all their lives. After completing his engineering degree, Bob was accepted to the University of Michigan Law program, graduating in 1952.

During his time at the University of Michigan, Bob met his wife Shirley and they married on April 5, 1952 at Bushnell Congregational Church in Detroit. In September 1952, Bob took the Michigan Bar Exam, and while waiting for the result, he and Shirley spent their time in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Once Bob learned he had passed the Bar, they returned to Michigan where he began looking for a place to practice law.

In 1953, Bob and Shirley moved to Battle Creek, where he became the first attorney to join Millard Vandervoort’s practice. The firm eventually became known as Vandervoort, McFee, Christ, Carpenter and Fisher and was one of the most prominent law firms in the Battle Creek area. The firm continues to operate today with different partners succeeding the founders.

In his law practice, Bob advised small businesses and local governments on contracts, real estate, labor law, business formation and other various complexities involving government, law and the private sector. One of his favorite stories was about suing the IRS for a client “because it was the only way to get the attention of someone who could make a decision.”

His legal career also included teaching, where Bob taught real estate law through the University of Michigan Extension Service from 1962 to 1981. He belonged to professional and civic organizations including the American Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan, Calhoun County Bar Association and Battle Creek Rotary Club; family records also recall his work with the Chamber of Commerce and Speakers Bureau.

In addition to his law practice, Bob became an entrepreneur, purchasing a majority share of GHS Corporation (GHS Guitar Strings) when the founder, O. B. Holcomb retired. During his leadership, GHS grew significantly in size, expanding its operation in Battle Creek. The business allowed Bob and Shirley to meet many famous rock & roll stars, plus they made friends with many foreign customers as GHS exported to over 100 countries.

During the years at GHS, Bob also engineered the acquisition of three air compressor manufacturing companies; Saylor-Beall Manufacturing Company, Palatek, Inc., and Sullivan Industries. The companies eventually built a new plant in Michigan City, IN and merged Sullivan and Palatek into one company. GHS Strings and the air compressor companies are still managed by members of the McFee family. Over the many years, these businesses have employed more than a thousand people, many of whom stayed with the companies for decades.

Bob and Shirley also were very involved with the University of Michigan, attending tailgate parties at football games that included many of the friends they had made in college. In 1990, Shirley was elected a U of M Regent, which brought Bob into considerable travel and interaction with U of M administrators. Bob and Shirley also travelled together vastly, going to more than 100 countries, some for business and some for pleasure.

Bob and Shirley’s other great hobby was sailing, where for many decades they owned a boat on Lake Michigan named Boomer, because Boomer was the guitar string that made GHS famous. Eventually, Bob and Shirley sailed the boat over the Great Lakes and through the Erie Canal to the Hudson River. The following year they sailed the boat down the Atlantic Ocean coast to the Caribbean Islands. At one point they were caught in Hurricane Mitch but managed to keep the boat afloat.

Once their children became adults and moved out of the house, Bob and Shirley scheduled many events to bring the family back together. Christmas was always a gathering time at their home and in the summer, Bob’s July 5th birthday was common time to bring in all family members. Bob and Shirley also sponsored many family trips, first starting with a Disney Cruise and Alaskan cruise. The trips eventually evolved to travel at Caribbean destinations including Turks and Caicos and Jamaica.

Bob was a believer in hard work. As a young boy he worked many jobs starting with delivering papers and mowing lawns. He later worked a summer in a shop that made automotive gaskets. During college he played his saxophone in a musical band that performed at night clubs. In the early 1960s he partnered with a friend, owning a laundromat in Battle Creek to earn money on the side. After becoming majority owner and President of GHS Corporation, Bob continued to practice law, spending many hours serving his clients. All the while he kept up the yard, mowing the grass and raking the leaves in the fall.

Those activities reflected a larger pattern in Bob’s life: whether he was practicing law, building a company, crossing a body of water, attending University of Michigan football games, or planning the next family adventure, he rarely lacked the vision for a new project.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Roy Ernest and Helen Gifford McFee, his sister, Katherine Arden McFee Doman and niece that lived with the family for many years, Tracey Lee Williams.

He is survived by his wife of more than 74 years, Shirley M. McFee; their three children, Bruce McFee and his wife Nancy, Russell McFee and his wife Connie, and Carole McFee Mendez and her husband Juan; nine grandchildren, Andrew McFee, Allison McFee, Chad McFee, Madeline McFee, Katherine McFee, Jonathan McFee, Bentley Mendez, Estlin Mendez and Jackson Mendez; and three great-granddaughters, Avery McFee and Eva McFee, daughters of Andrew and Kimberly McFee, and Daisy Mendez, daughter of Bentley and Samantha Mendez.

Visitation will be held Thursday, September 17, 2026 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Home & Cremation Care, 105 Capital Ave. NE, Battle Creek, MI 49017. A memorial service will be held Friday, September 18, 2026 at 11:00 am, also at Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Home, followed by a lunch for family and friends at the Battle Creek Country Club. Personal messages for the family may be placed at www.farleyestesdowdle.com.