Robert "Bobby" Benton Lindley

Robert Lindley, a resident of Las Vegas, NV, passed away on June 17, 2024 at the age of 84. 

He was born in Paoli, IN, on May 9, 1940, to Howard and Ruth Lindley. An only child, Bob (as he was known to family and friends) married Cheryl Pemberton on November 10, 1967, and together they built their life in Paoli. 

Bob graduated from Paoli Jr-Sr High School in 1958. While there, he was a member of the cross-country team and was known for racing his drag car along the area known as Death Valley. He attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and studied business. He and his father started Mi-Lin Wood Products Corporation, a manufacturing plant, in 1965. The success of Mi-Lin encouraged him to later add a second manufacturing plant, called Willow Creek Woods, which specialized in custom cases. He was a member of the National Dimension Manufacturers Association and made many friends in the wood manufacturing industry through it. 

He was heavily involved in the community as a member of the Paoli Jaycees and the Paoli Chamber of Commerce. He served on the Paoli Park Board as well as Orange County Players Board and was a member of the Paoli Friends Church. Bob had two hobbies which he was passionate about - Indian artifact collecting and Indy Car racing. He could often be found walking along freshly plowed farm fields searching for arrowheads and other artifacts. He spent many weekends at Indian artifact shows in Indiana and Kentucky showing his collection and selling his custom cases that he created. Bob was known for his love for the Indianapolis 500 and every race day was treated as a holiday, complete with his own morning race to Indy to be sure he was in the stands before the start. He was a race lap sponsor and befriended many racing legends over the years. 

Bob was a supportive father to his daughters, Jolie and Jessica, and attended many theater performances, dance recitals, marching band competitions and beauty pageants to watch them and cheer them on. He introduced his love of racing and Indiana basketball to them. He enjoyed traveling with his family, and two of his favorite places to visit were Sarasota, FL, and Mackinac Island, MI. 

He decided to revisit his love of drag racing at the age of 58 and spent many years traveling to area dragstrips to race. He and his team set a land speed record at the famed Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and he won several NHRA top-in-class “Wally” trophies. He was a proud member of the NHRA and he and Cheryl made many friends in the drag racing community. 

Bob could always be counted on to support local community endeavors and was known for his excitement in chasing video poker wins at the French Lick Casino. He operated on his own time, which meant he was never on time for anything, usually because he got into a long conversation with someone in passing as he was on his way to someplace. He never met a stranger and had a way of making friends with everyone he met. In 2014 he moved from Paoli to Las Vegas to be closer to his daughters and his grandchildren, Landon and Lindley.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Cheryl. He is survived by his daughters Jolie Lindley and Jessica (Tom) Amick and his grandchildren. 

A visitation will be held on Wednesday, July 24, 11:30 a.m -1 p.m. at McAdams Mortuary in Paoli, IN. The service will begin at 1 p.m. at the funeral home with Bro. Chris Lindley officiating. Burial will be in the Paoli Community Cemetery. For condolences visit mcadamsmortuary.com

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made to the Orange County Community Foundation (www.occf-in.org) and the Paoli Friends Church, C/O Steve Haworth,372 S Sussex Place, Columbus, IN 47201.