Robert Bland Ariail

Robert Bland Ariail, 86, of Columbia, passed away peacefully at Laurel Crest Retirement Community Friday, April 27, 2018. The son of the late Dr. Robert Hodges Ariail and Elizabeth Bland Ariail, Robert lived his life to the fullest, and was a true Renaissance man – an accomplished musician and athlete, businessman, astronomer, author, and philanthropist. Robert was born in Laurens, SC, and grew up in Sumter, where, as a high school student, he became both a tennis player of note, and was honored as the youngest member of the SC Symphony. While attending the University of South Carolina (Class of 1955), Robert played tennis for Coach Don Barton. During his college years, he continued to pursue his interest in music, playing clarinet and saxophone in several bands: Fran Semino and the Pastels, Dave Hawkins and the Stardusters, the Henry Morris Trio, the Gerald Thwentt Orchestra, and the SC Symphony. After college, Robert went on the road for six months with a professional band, the Bubbles Becker Orchestra. He performed in later years with the Billie Mustian Quintet. Following the musical tour, Robert served with the US Air Force, and was stationed in Alaska. For many years Robert and his business partner, Tally Elliott, owned and operated Elliott-Ariail & Associates Insurance Company, which was well known and respected in the Midlands of South Carolina. Robert became interested in astronomy in the second grade and often said, “Astronomy is a science that makes you want to read more about it and I guess I just couldn’t get enough.” He got his first telescope in the second grade and spent the next 50 years exploring the nighttime skies. His passion for astronomy led him over the years to collect and restore several hundred historic astronomical instruments and thousands of texts that eventually became one of the top ten collections in the world. Among the showpieces that Robert located and restored is the historic 1849 Henry Fitz telescope from Erskine College, in Due West, SC. The instrument, which was on the verge of complete loss, now resides at the State Museum, and gives South Carolina the distinction of having the oldest American-made observatory telescope in existence. He also worked tirelessly to help secure and restore a rare Alvan Clark observatory telescope for the State Museum’s 70,000 sq. ft. expansion. Robert was a founding member of the Antique Telescope Society, which awarded him the Lippershey Medal for scholarly work in 2007, just the third issued in the organization’s 17 year history. In 2011, he received the Order of the Silver Crescent and co-authored Alvan Clark & Sons: Artists in Optics. As a member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, he recorded over 10,000 observations. Robert traveled to four countries to observe six solar eclipses, and was active through the years in both the Charlotte Astronomy Club and the Midlands Astronomy Club. He was the recipient of the Explorer’s Club first Bronze Medallion, and in 2012 was recognized by the Richland County Council with an outstanding public service resolution. Robert’s generosity and commitment to science and learning is best reflected in his donation of over 200 antique telescopes and astronomical instruments, including twelve telescopes made by Alvan Clark & Sons, to the SC State Museum, where he was its longest-serving volunteer. These telescopes, as well as eight more American-made instruments, record the history of astronomy in the United States. The Museum also displays in its new observatory some of Robert’s personal items including the tennis racket he used while playing with USC. Additionally, Robert guided the development of the State Museum’s Windows to New Worlds project, from its inception, as a State Museum Foundation Board Member, advisor and friend. In addition to his telescopes, Robert donated his library of 5300 books, documents, and manuscripts to the University of South Carolina Libraries. This gift included star atlases and monographs of notable astronomers from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, periodical publications of major observatories such as the Dudley Observatory and the Griffith Observatory, and early scholarly publications including The Observatory, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, and The Journal of the British Astronomical Association. One item of particular significance is a manuscript written by William Stukeley, a contemporary and colleague of Sir Isaac Newton. In the manuscript, Stukeley expands on his conversations with Newton and provides detail on his theory of the Milky Way, which predates other scholarship on the topic by 30 years. The collection is important for both teaching and research and will provide students and faculty both at the university, and, through digital technology, scholars around the world, a unique understanding of this area of study. These collections will further advance our state as a cultural and intellectual resource, by attracting world-wide attention and business to the museum, university, city, county and state. The genius displayed in so many members of the family was inherited from Robert’s grandfather, James Finlay Bland, who was a brilliant gentleman farmer in the Maysville Community of South Carolina. Robert’s brother-in-law, Bill, stated that when he married into the family many of Robert’s cousins possessed this gene and were very successful inventors and professionals, but above all they were, like Robert, very humble. Robert never touted to anyone what he accomplished. Survivors include his niece, Elizabeth Houck of Atlanta and nephew, Charles Houck of Davidson, NC; brother-in-law, Bill DeLoache of Columbia; first cousins, Finlay Clark (Laura), Henry Clark (Penny), Margaret Cooper (Judge Thomas Cooper), Nancy Bland, Patrick Quantz (Jeanie) and Dr. Newton Quantz (Lillian). Robert was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia Louise Burt Ariail; sister, Elizabeth “Molly” Ariail DeLoache; and first cousins, Ken Clark and Bland Quantz. A memorial service for Mr. Ariail will be held 11 o’clock, Saturday, May 5th at Shives Funeral Home, Trenholm Road Chapel, 7600 Trenholm Road Ext., with a reception to follow. Private interment will take place in the Eastminster Presbyterian Church Memorial Gardens. The family suggests that memorials be made to Laurel Crest Retirement Community, 100 Joseph Walker Drive, West Columbia, SC 29169 and The South Carolina State Museum, 301 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC 29201.

Tributes

Robert Bland Ariail

December 7, 1931 - April 27, 2018