Robert T. "Obie" McCandless, 82, of 117 Edgewood Ave., Grove City, died at 2:25 a.m. Thursday at the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center after a long battle with lung cancer.

Born in Grove City, Aug. 19, 1924, he was the son of Claude Alexander McCandless and Amanda E. Platt McCandless.

He retired in 1985 as a heavy equipment operator for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in Mercer after 25 years. He previously had been a truck driver at W.E. Wike Trucking in Polk.

Mr. McCandless attended the Tower Presbyterian Church in Grove City and was a member of the Center Presbyterian Church in Grove City. He also was a member of the NRA and was a former member of the Grove City IOOF Lodge 910.

He was a World War II Marine Corps veteran and belonged to the VFWPost 519.

Surviving are his wife, Velma Lucille "Lucy" Tinker McCandless, whom he married Nov. 12, 1955; four children, Lesley A. McCandless of Columbus, Ohio, and John A., Robert E. (Laurie) and Scott C. McCandless, all of Grove City; a half-sister, Sara Marie McCandless of St. Louis,Mo.; and three grandchildren, Mallory, Nichole and Cody McCandless.

He was preceded in death by two half-sisters, Mary Margaret "Birdi" Armstrong and Nancy E. Evans; his stepmother, Dorothy E. McCandless, and a brother, George E. McCandless.

<B>McCandless </B>— Friends of Robert T. McCandless, who died Thursday, April 12, 2007, will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the <B>Cunningham Funeral Home</B>, 306 Bessemer Ave., Grove City. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the funeral home with the Rev. John Culp, pastor of Tower Presbyterian Church, officiating. Burial, with military honors, will be at the Union Home Cemetery, Wolf Creek Township, Mercer County.Memorial donations may be made to the VNA Hospice, 154 Hindman Road, Butler, PA 16001.