In Loving Memory 

Robert Berkley Harper, 82, Professor Emeritus, Law University of Pittsburgh, passed away on October 12, 2021.  He was the son of the late Frank P. and Oneida Grigsby Harper.
 

A product of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Robert graduated from Fifth Avenue High School and received a BS Degree in Education at Pitt while working at the US Post Office at night.  He always had a strong desire to teach, however, after graduating from college, he joined the United States Army.  Lieutenant Harper taught weapons at the Armory School at Fort Knox in Kentucky after receiving a battalion adjutant assignment in Korea.  Following Robert’s discharge from the military, he returned home and taught math and Algebra at Liberty Demonstration School.
 

Robert went on to attend Law School at University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1971 and became the Police Legal Advisor for the City of Pittsburgh.  He left that job to become Dean of Students at his Alma Mater and later became the first African American, tenured professor at that institution. 
 

He taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedures, Evidence, Scientific Evidence, and Law and Education.  He loved his role in the area of Education Law and even taught legal education programs to lawyers and judges, classes to police officers as well students, teachers, and school administrators.
 

Robert will be remembered as the Patriarch of the Harper Family; the brother, uncle, friend and neighbor you could always count on.  He loved the Lord and attempted to follow His teachings.  As a young adult he was active in Christian Tabernacle Church and most recently at Mt. Ararat, Saturday Night Live service. 
 

His hobbies related to reading, writing, art, and music.   He would always say that one should try to read a book each week and write an essay every evening.  You may have seen him at the Carnegie Library, Homewood Branch or even read one of his Letters to the Editor in a Pittsburgh newspaper.
 

Robert was also proceeded in death by sisters Gwendolyn Chapman, Natalie Tomlin, Margaret Harper, Barbara Harper Burns, Bernice Harper Lancaster, and brothers Frank Jr. James, Oliver, Theodore, George, Gerald, Harry, and Donald Harper and John William and Nathaniel Hairston.
 

He is survived by his brother Henry (Yvonne), Delaware, oldest nephew, Rodney "Tim", best friend since high school, Richard Lee, MD, California, and a host of beloved family members, friends, colleagues and former students in Pittsburgh and across the country.