Bob and Helen Pruitt
Robert Franklin “Bob” Pruitt met Helen Marie Killgore at Central Missouri State Teachers College in Warrensburg, where Helen earned her degree in education. They married on July 12, 1953, and in 1957 they made Kansas City their home, joining Colonial Presbyterian Church, where they remained members for the rest of their lives.
Bob built a long and successful career in sales and marketing at Marion Laboratories, the company Ewing Marion Kauffman started in his basement in 1950 and grew into one of the country’s leading pharmaceutical firms. Mr. K was known for treating his people as “associates” and for his love of the sales force, and Bob was proud to be part of it. He organized many of the company’s professional and social gatherings, always with Helen at his side.
When Mr. Kauffman brought Major League Baseball back to Kansas City, he formed the Royals Lancers, a group of boosters that included Marion salespeople, to champion the new team and sell season tickets. Bob served as President of the Royals Lancers. He and Helen kept season seats behind the Royals dugout along the first base line, and they were always inviting family and friends to come sit with them and cheer.
Bob adored Helen. A schoolteacher by training and a teacher at heart, she put her education degree to work raising their three children, and later poured that same devotion into her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She loved golf, bridge, her rose garden, watching birds, and a good historical novel, and she never stopped learning.
Bob also loved music, especially Kansas City’s jazz heritage and the beauty of choral singing. He understood that the arts, like a night at the ballpark, bring neighbors together in ways little else can.
Bob passed away in 1998, and Helen lived many years with the happy memory of him until she joined him on Mother’s Day 2026. Their family created the Pruitt Fund for the Arts to carry their shared belief forward: that education, music, and the arts belong to everyone. Each year, the fund supports Kansas City artists and organizations that open their doors to all.