J. Robert Fletcher

J. Robert Fletcher began his career as a draftsman and salesman for his father's consulting firm in Chicago after graduating from the University of Illinois. In the 1940s, the company developed the first mechanized roof control by mounting a hydraulic circular saw on a permissible battery tractor with a swinging and lifting boom to hold the timbers in place. The industry recognized the improved efficiency of the timbering machines and in 1947, the company moved to Huntington, West Virginia, because of its proximity to the eastern and midwestern coal fields. In addition to his 70 years in the mining industry, Fletcher was also very involved in the community. He served on the Board of Directors of Columbia Gas, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Huntington Federal Saving and Loan, the Huntington YMCA, Cammack Children's Center and was involved in many other community organizations such as the March of Dimes, United Fund, Boy Scouts of America and the Huntington Chamber of Commerce. In 1989, he was honored with a Doctor of Laws by West Virginia Wesleyan and in October 2007 he was added to the Huntington Wall of Fame. Fletcher and Co. endowed the "James H. Fletcher and Ruth L. Fletcher John Marshall Scholarship." In addition, Fletcher established the "Kathlyn Holway Fletcher Fund for H.E.L.P. (Higher Education for Learning Problems) in memory of his wife Kae, after her death in 2006, and the "J.H. Fletcher and Co. Scholarship Fund" for engineering students at Marshall University. He also established a program at J.H. Fletcher and Co. that pays up to eight semesters of Marshall tuition for the children of employees.