Funeral services for R. L. Hargrove, 81, of Calhoun, LA, will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Wednesday, January 29, 2014 in the Worship Center of First Baptist Church of West Monroe with Rev. Greg Clark officiating with Rev. Mark Fenn and Lonnie Stewart assisting. Interment will follow at Roselawn Memorial Gardens cemetery under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home West Monroe. Mr. Hargrove was born February 25, 1932 in Columbia, LA and passed away January 27, 2014 following an extended illness. He was preceded in death by his parents; Robert Lee Hargrove and Bettie Hargrove; a sister Adeline Anderson; and his daughter, Kaye Hargrove Shields. He is survived by Lila, his wife of 56 years, and his children; Paul and Kelly Hargrove, Brad Hargrove, and Dale and Angela Shields, all of West Monroe; grandchildren, Lesley and Matt Moore, Stephen and Melissa Shields, Kelli and Nathan Clark, Katie Shields, Jacob Hargrove, Bailey Hargrove, Grace Hargrove, Gabriel Hargrove and Madison Gammel; and great-grandson Drew Moore. He is also survived by one sister, Muriel White and numerous nieces and nephews. Whenever someone met R. L. and asked How are you doing? He had a standard response: Pitifully worse. But you knew by the quiet smile and the twinkle in his eye that he was joking. In fact, for much of his life R. L. Hargrove was anything BUT Pitifully worse. He was busy!! As a member of the Greatest Generation, R. L. proudly served in the United States Navy from 1951-1955 attaining the rank of Petty Officer, Second class. Following his military service, he enrolled at Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe and graduated with a degree in Accounting in 1960. After obtaining his license as a Certified Public Accountant in 1965, he became a partner in Frank and Hargrove CPAs and had his own firm from 1967-1973. During this time, he was one of the early Directors of Dixie Youth Baseball in West Monroe, and joined the J C Stewart Masonic Lodge, where he was a member for 45 years. One of his audit clients in those early days was a small local exchange telephone company named Century Telephone Enterprises. In 1974, R. L. closed his firm and went to work for the late Clarke Williams at Century Telephone as Controller. As the firm began to grow, his responsibilities also grew and he ultimately served as Senior Vice-President and Secretary Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice-President. He retired from CenturyTel in 1987 as Executive Vice President. He served as a member of the Board of Directors from 1985 until 2005 when he reached mandatory Board retirement age. While active at Century Telephone, he also served on the Boards of Scientific Communications, Inc., Frisco State Bank, and Arrant Insurance and as an Advisory Director for the Salvation Army in Monroe. After retiring, R. L. devoted himself to serving the community. He served from 1990-2000 on the Board of Directors of Glenwood Regional Medical Center on both the Finance and Executive Committees and as Treasurer. He was Chairman of the Board from 1999-2000. He was also appointed by the Governor in 1992 and served over 9 years on the State Civil Commission. In 2002, he was elected by the State Senate to serve on the State Ethics Commission for a term which ended in 2007. R.L. was extremely proud to be a CPA, and was a member of both the Louisiana Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for almost 50 years. Until recent months, he was a regular participant in Continuing Education activities and the regular monthly luncheons of the local CPA chapter. A man of faith, R.L. was an active member of the First Baptist Church of West Monroe for over 40 years, serving as an active deacon regularly since 1972 and in recent years as a Lifetime Deacon. He served for many years on the Church‚ Finance, Personnel, and Long Range Planning Committees and multiple terms as Finance Committee Chairman and as Church Treasurer. He served on the Board of Director‚ of the church‚ television ministry, Sonrise Communications. Until shortly before his death, he served for many years as one of the church‚ three Trustees. Memorial gifts may be made to the Jason Paul Cameron Foundation, P O Box 2474, West Monroe, LA 71294 or to First Baptist Church of West Monroe. Pallbearers will be Charles Jackson, John Cameron, Tony Davis, Stephen Shields, Nathan Clark, Jacob Hargrove, Gabriel Hargrove and Matt Moore. Honorary pallbearers will be the Sumrall Sunday School Class, and the Deacons of First Baptist Church of West Monroe. Visitation will be Tuesday, January 28, 2014 from 5:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. at Kilpatrick Funeral Home of West Monroe.