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When Bobby was five years of age, he was enrolled in the French Institute of Notre Dame de Sion School in the Hyde Park District in midtown Kansas City, Missouri. This school was a very traditional Catholic School run by the French Order of Sisters of Sion, and Bobby really loved to attend classes. Bobby particularly liked spelling and arithmetic and especially did he like the times visitors would bring animals for the students to touch and interact with. And he liked to go to the Chapel for Holy Mass and prayer time. Bobby was learning about the Saints and he recited poems and stories he learned to enjoy from the Nuns who were his teachers at the school. Bobby was an exceptional and bright little boy and he was “all boy” and never can it be said that Bobby Greenlease was a sissy! While he was gentle and even “sweet,” (in his mom’s words), for a six year old boy, he still liked to climb trees, and to play softball, croquet, and play and sled in the snow, and he watched for tadpoles in the shallow Indian Creek that flowed alongside Indian Lane Road, that ran through the base of the property alongside his home on the west, and across from the Kansas City Country Club and at the base of the hill from where he lived in Mission Hills, Kansas.
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One of Bobby’s really fun times was to repetitiously play hide and seek with his dad; almost daily. Bobby had a special big tree on the hill in the back of his home where he liked to run under and “hide” and his dad “never” was able to find him. Time after time his dad simply “couldn’t” find him and Bobby just thought this was the greatest “trick” he could play on his dad! Bobby loved to be with his dad and to play games with him both in the yard and in his home. And to ride in the car with his dad was a fun time; often sitting in the front seat!
Bobby enjoyed his big playroom that was just aside from the main living room in his home, and one of his favorite “toys” was his huge custom made building block set with the entire alphabet; six letters or numbers per block. He simply liked to play with these big blocks so much of the time when he played alone or with his friends or his dad. And he loved to have his friends visit and his mom always had some kind of a special snack and Kool-Aid drink. (Bobby really liked the Kool-Aid grape and orange flavors).
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As the years passed and Bobby was growing, he endured some of the usual things a child his age would be expected to experience such as some hesitation the very first day of school, the mumps, chicken pox and tonsillitis. And a lot of scraped knees and fingers! While no child likes to be sick, Bobby enjoyed the extra time he would have at home while recovering from those childhood encounters with illness. His mom would usually arrange something special to aid Bobby with the passing of the few days he missed school. (He really liked school and didn’t especially like to miss his school). Bobby was afforded the time with a really wonderful “live-in” nanny who was always in the home to be with the children when Robert and Virginia were away for social or business occasions. This nanny lived in the adjoining quarters, (actually, a separate private nine-room residence back of the main home), that was provided for her and for the cook, driver, and other housekeepers as well.
The Greenlease Family enjoyed their vacation time traveling, as Virginia tells this story; August of 1953 was no exception. The children accompanied Robert and Virginia to Europe and also the family nanny accompanied them, and this was a great assistance for Virginia. Bobby, who had turned six in February, was such an active little boy, and he really liked his nanny. And the time he spent with his nanny on this vacation was quite special for him, as she allowed him to enjoy some “extra” ice cream and candy. Of course, Bobby’s older sister Virginia Sue, was also the beneficiary of these “extras” during this particular European vacation. She liked sweets as much as her little brother!
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