Robert E. Lee Holden

My uncle, Dr. Robert Lee Holden, passed away recently in a nursing home in San Angelo, TX at the age of 77. He was my father's sister's husband and good friend to my Dad. He had served in the military, taught public school, and had spent most of his career as a college professor of education at Angelo State University. I was named after him.

Apparently, my mother not wanting to have "family" names, as opposed to my Dad who was committed to naming me after a family member, was caught unaware of the fact I was named after my uncle until it was too late! Little Robert Lee Tucker entered the world in 1960 named after his Uncle, an Uncle who married my Aunt Patsy at a fairly young age and remained successfully married for 59 years! But I recently discovered more to the story of my uncle's name for, much to my surprise, Dr. Holden informed me about two months before his passing that he was actually named after the great Southern general Robert E. Lee. While I have been asked many times if I were named after Robert E. Lee, I readily denied such a connection since, to my knowledge, none existed.

Dr. Holden, Bob as we affectionately called him, was in fact originally named Robert E. Lee Holden which is what it states on his birth certificate. The E. is not spelled out at all making it not representative of anything more than a letter. This apparently created a problem for Bob as a young enlistee. His officers kept demanding that he tell them what the E stood for in his name. He kept insisting that it stood for nothing more than a letter. Finally, in frustration at the constant harassment, he elected to drop the E from his nomenclature and subsequent correspondence. The result was that nobody question the E any longer and few people associated the famed general with Dr. Holden.

Yet, there is no denying or revising history. I was named after my Uncle who was named after Southern General Robert E. Lee, son of Revolutionary war hero General Henry "Light Horse" Lee. Whether the E is dropped from his name or not does not change his roots and, although somewhat superfluous, may indeed inadvertently contribute to one's own leadership qualities or at least tenacity for a cause. In the case of Robert E. Lee, although his position may in retrospect have been a touch misguided, he was indeed a remarkable leader with great courage, fortitude, and wisdom. For my Uncle, Dr. Robert E. Lee Holden, as a public school teacher and eventually college professor, his leadership was demonstrated in the classroom. For me, named after my uncle who was named after the General, I feel a sense of legacy pervading my thoughts and actions. It is hoped I continue to represent leadership qualities in the classroom, in college administration, in music performances, and in my Christian walk.