Maj. Gen. Robert L. Stevenson Biography
Robert Louis Stevenson, was born in Honolulu on April 10, 1915. He attended grammar school in various Oahu locales, attended McKinley High School and graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1937 with a degree in engineering. He joined Home Insurance Company (now First Insurance) in October 1937 as a fire insurance engineer.
He entered Army service in October 1940 as a captain after nine years of Army National Guard service and served with the 25th Infantry Division throughout the South Pacific during World War II. He was a battalion commander as well as division G2. He left the Army as a full colonel in 1946 and rejoined Home Insurance.
His service record is studded with an impressive array of commendations such as the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, and many others.
Immediately following his departure from full-time Army service he rejoined the National Guard in Honolulu as a Colonel and was charged with reorganizing the 298th Regimental Combat Team in Hawaii. He started with one man-himself, and four years later had built the 298th into
the largest regimental combat team in the nation. He was active in the National Guard from 1946 until his retirement in 1958. He was called out of retirement in December 1962
when appointed Adjutant General of the State. He served almost four years in this post and then returned to First Insurance, as vice president. He was made president of the company in February 1967.
He is President of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce and a member of the rotary Club of Honolulu and the Aloha Temple of the Shrine. At this time he also serves on the Board of Directors of many community organizations including the American Red Cross and Mid Pacific Institute.
Robert Stevenson lives with his wife in Kaneohe. They are parents of a daughter, Mrs. George Naukana and a son John Stevenson who is a Captain in the Hawaii Army National Guard.