By Tom von Kaene
Special to the Courier
news@thepccourier.com

CLEMSON — In the quiet of her Clemson apartment, Becky Fant still keeps the photographs that tell the story best. There is the one she and Bob always called “the toothpaste ad”—the two of them beaming at his homecoming, smiles so bright they seemed to light the room. There is the wedding portrait taken just a few weeks later. And there are the modest tokens of a community that never forgot: the melted remains of countless POW bracelets once worn by strangers who prayed for a young Navy lieutenant from Anderson.

Commander Robert St. Clair “Bob” Fant Jr., Clemson Class of 1960, died June 1, 2026, at 87. He and Becky had made their home in the Upstate for more than a quarter-century. Theirs was a love story forged in the longest of separations and sustained by faith, patience, and an entire town’s quiet determination that he would come home.

Bob and Rebecca “Becky” Otts of

You must be logged in to view this content.