Robert Lee Mayo, Jr.

Bobby was born on February 14, 1938, to the late Robert Lee Mayo ,Sr., and the late Mary Sarah (Williams) Mayo in Portsmouth, VA (Brighton).  He attended Brighton Rock Elementary School and Truxton Middle School.  Bobby’s father found it difficult to find gainful employment in the area, so his father decided to move the family to New York City in 1950, where he found work in the Brooklyn Naval Yard.

Bobby completed his formal education on the SS John W. Brown (ship) which was part of Metropolitan Vocational High School.  He studied Maritime Engineering.  This was the beginning of his career at sea.  He loved being by the water.  Soon after, he enlisted in the Navy where he served for 20myears.

Bobby served during the Vietnam War, and was a part of the “Bay of Pigs” (in Cuba).  While in Vietnam, he also served on patrol boats called “Brown Water Navy” boats.  While in the Navy, Bobby met and married Lillie Mae Sawyer (divorced).  From this union was born Tavana (Mayo) C. Uzzle and Dr. Angela Mayo Holley.

After retiring from the Navy, Bobby worked briefly in the Portsmouth Department of Education, but it was too confining for him.  He wanted to be on the road, so he became a tour bus driver for Gallop Bus Company.  Some of his fondest memories were of places he saw and people he met.  Bobby never met a stranger.  He enjoyed interacting with others and he loved to laugh.  He had a remarkable ability to strike up a conversation with anyone.

Bobby always loved music.  He learned to play the piano when he was a young child.  After he moved to New York, he joined the Boy Scouts and he learned to play the bugle and the trumpet, which he played in parades.  In the fifties when rock and roll started, Bobby and a few friend started their own “Do-Wop” group.  He taught himself to play the bass guitar (his instrument of choice) and he became part of several gospel singing groups who performed in many areas up and down the East Coast.

Bobby was predeceased by his son, Jerald Turner; his younger brother, John Mayo; his great-grandson Robert Nathaniel Mayo; and his son-in-law, Larry Uzzle.

He leaves behind his wife Michell Peters Mayo; his daughters-Tavana Uzzle and Dr. Angela (Marvin) Holley; six grandchildren-Robert L. Mayo, III, Angelo Uzzle, Angel Uzzle, Tykeria Drade, and Nicholas Drade; two step grandchildren-Taneil Holley and Richard Holley; five great-grandchildren, 10 step great-grandchildren; two sisters-Elosie Morris of Junction City, KS, and Ruth (Roger) Hudson of Yonkers, NY; two aunts-Joan Harris and Phyllis Ward of Columbus, OH, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.