Robert Elledy Gable

Robert Elledy Gable, a distinguished Republican leader and business executive, passed away on Friday, November 29th, at Baptist Health in Lexington, Kentucky. A longtime resident of Frankfort, Kentucky, Gable was a dedicated public servant, the Republican nominee for Governor in 1975, and the chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky for seven years. He also led The Stearns Coal and Lumber Company, a prominent Kentucky business founded by his great-grandfather, Justus Stearns, in 1902.

Born in New York City, Gable grew up in Port Orford, Oregon, and later Tucson, Arizona, after his father's death. He spent his summers with family in Michigan and Minnesota. Gable attended Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts before graduating from Stanford University in 1956 with a degree in Industrial Engineering. At Stanford, he excelled in leadership, serving as Student Financial Manager and Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity president and earning induction into Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society.

After college, Gable served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, a role he considered foundational to his leadership skills. He married Emily Brinton Thompson in Bar Harbor, Maine, and they settled in Stearns, Kentucky, home of his family’s business. During their decade in Stearns, they raised three children while Gable played a pivotal role in the company’s transformation. He worked with senior leadership to develop a major coal mine as part of a broader strategy to modernize and eventually liquidate the “last company town” in Kentucky, diversifying the company’s assets.

Gable’s commitment to public service extended to his involvement in political campaigns, including his instrumental support for his friend Howard H. Baker, Jr., in the 1964 and 1966 U.S. Senate elections. After moving to Frankfort in 1967, he served as Commissioner of Kentucky State Parks under Governor Louie B. Nunn.

Returning to private life in 1970, Gable deepened his involvement in Republican politics. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1972 and for Governor in 1975, becoming the Party’s nominee, and again for governor in 1995. In 1986, Gable became Republican State Chairman and served on the Republican National Committee, where his tenure was the longest of any state chairman in the nation. Notably, Gable was a pro-choice advocate, an unusual position in Kentucky’s Republican circles.

Under his leadership, The Stearns Company diversified into real estate development, including projects like the Hyatt Regency in Lexington. However, the economic challenges of the 1980s led to the company’s eventual restructuring.

Gable's business life included directorships of Hilliard-Lyons Government Fund, Kuhn's Big-K Stores Corp., Kentucky & Tennessee Railway, Bank of McCreary County, Kentucky & Lexington Chambers of Commerce, Blue Grass Automobile Club, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kentucky, Kentucky Coal Association, and many other organizations.

Beyond business and politics, Gable devotedly advocated for the arts and education. He chaired the Kentucky Arts Council and Kentucky Opera and served on the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts board. A former trustee of George Peabody College for Teachers, Gable served as its final chairman before overseeing its merger with Vanderbilt University, where he later served on the Vanderbilt Board of Trust for eight years. Nationally, he was President of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and a member of the President’s Committee for the Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Gable and his wife Emily traveled extensively during their 58-year marriage. A devoted member of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Frankfort, Gable also served on the Missions Board of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky.

Bob will be remembered for his accomplishments, unwavering optimism, and deep love of country. His legacy lives on in the countless lives he touched and the values he championed.

Preceded in death by his wife, Emily, he is survived by his children, James (wife, Lisa Guillermin), Elizabeth Gable Hicks, and John (wife, Virginia Harris), as well as grandchildren Helen-Anne and Robert “Bo” Gable.

Funeral service will be held at Church of the Ascension in Frankfort, KY, on Saturday, December 28, 2024 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts or The Republican Party of Kentucky: In Memory of Robert E. Gable. 

Obituary courtesy of McCreary County Funeral Home.