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Robert W Padgett, 80, loan officer

After Robert W. Padgett married Barbara Carpenter in June 1958, he enlisted in the Army in September and was sent to a base in northeastern France.

After Robert W. Padgett married Barbara Carpenter in June 1958, he enlisted in the Army in September and was sent to a base in northeastern France.

Though only a private, he had a friend in a sergeant, who helped get him a three-day pass in November.

So when Mr. Padgett's wife arrived at a Paris airport that month, she met not only her husband but also the sergeant and his wife, who had driven him to this once-in-a-lifetime reunion.

During their time in Paris, the Padgetts dined at the restaurant high on the Eiffel Tower.

"I was expecting something different," something far less, Barbara Padgett said. "I was naive."

On Thursday, May 5, Mr. Padgett, 80, of Williamstown, who retired in 2000 as a loan officer for PNC Bank in Philadelphia, died of a heart attack at home.

While posted in France, Mr. Padgett had been a truck driver at an Army base 25 miles from the town of Bar-le-Duc, in Lorraine.

And because his friend, the sergeant, was in the section that dealt with housing, the Padgetts were able to live in a private home in Bar-le-Duc, where a 1962 census counted slightly more than 18,000 residents.

"I spent nine months with him there," she said, but he was never able to take leave as he did for their Paris encounter.

Born in Haddon Township, Mr. Padgett grew up in Audubon and Haddonfield, graduated from Haddonfield Memorial High School in 1955, and studied business at Peirce College in Philadelphia.

After his military service, he returned to become a teller at Haddonfield National Bank in the early 1960s and then became a loan officer for PNC Bank, first in Fort Washington and then in Center City, before retiring in 2000.

For the last five years, his wife said, he was a member of the finance committee at Centenary United Methodist Church in Berlin.

The pastor, the Rev. June Stitzinger-Clark, said, "He was a gentle, kind, loving man who never raised his voice to anyone."

"He could always be counted on," she said, "to say something positive about everyone's life experiences."

Besides his wife of 57 years, Mr. Padgett is survived by his mother, Ruth; daughter Jodi; and two sisters.

A visitation was set from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Thursday, May 12, at Kain-Murphy Funeral Services, 15 West End Ave., Haddonfield, before an 11 a.m. funeral service there, with interment in Eglington Cemetery in Clarksboro.

Donations may be sent to Centenary United Methodist Church, 149 S. White Horse Pike, Berlin, N.J. 08009.

Condolences may be offered to the family at http://kainmurphy.com.

wnaedele@phillynews.com

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