Robert Willard Apperson St. George, UT - Robert Willard Apperson passed away December 11, 2009, in St. George, UT, at the age of 88. He was born November 22, 1921 in Des Moines, Iowa. When he was a young boy, Robert and his parents, Grace Mae (Richards) and Otto Clyde Apperson, moved to Southern California. Robert, an only child, was raised near Malibu and Santa Monica and loved playing and hunting in the nearby mountains and ocean. He attended school in Santa Monica with classmate, Mickey Rooney, and later graduated from high school in Oxnard, California. He joined the Army in August of 1941, and served in the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation during World War II. After his military service, he returned to California where his first job was on a fishing schooner to and from Alaska. He then completed 3 years of college classes in the evenings, while working at California Edison Company in Los Angeles. His next job was with the California Division of Highways in Los Angeles and later in San Diego, where he met and married Barbara Cramer. In 1963 he was promoted to the Headquarters Office of the California Department of Transportation in Sacramento, where he worked as a Research and Design Engineer. During this time he designed several new types of highway maintenance equipment, including a very much needed tunnel washer for the State of California highways and tunnels. He worked for the state of California for 29 years. After his retirement from state service, he did consultant work as a Mechanical Engineer in several foreign countries, including Iran, Guyana, Philippines, New Guinea, Indonesia and China. In 1992 he and his wife moved to St. George, Utah where their marriage was later solemnized in the St. George LDS Temple. Robert is survived by his wife Barbara; his son Craig (Donna) Cramer of St. George; his daughter Carolyn (Robert) Dixon of Sacramento; 5 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and grandson, Matthew Robert Dixon. A visitation will be held Friday, December 18, 2009, from 6-7 p.m., at Metcalf Mortuary, 288 W. St. George Blvd., St. George, UT. Graveside services will be held Saturday, December 19, 2009, 1:00 p.m., at the Mountain View Cemetery, Beaver, UT. The family wishes to give thanks to Metcalf Mortuary for their support and service and to those in Beaver who arranged for his burial in the Beaver City Cemetery.