Robert L. Bothwell Sr.; Retired Navy Captain

Robert L. Bothwell Sr., a retired U.S. Navy captain and former president of the Woodland Hills Country Club, has died at his Woodland Hills home. He was 69.

Bothwell died Sunday of cancer, said his son James L. Bothwell.

Born Jan. 19, 1921, in Royersford, Pa., Bothwell served two years in the U.S. Army in the late 1930s before switching to the Navy, graduating from the Naval Academy in 1943. He received master’s degrees from Princeton University and the Naval War College.

He saw combat during World War II as a gunnery officer in the Pacific. He later graduated from Naval Flight School and flew more than 90 night missions during the Korean War, receiving four air medals in addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross.

From 1956 to 1959, he commanded air attack squadrons on the aircraft carrier Shangri-La, based in Coronado, Calif., and was on the staff of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon from 1963 until his retirement in 1965.

Bothwell worked for Hughes Aircraft Co. in Canoga Park from 1965 to 1985, when he retired as assistant manager of the firm’s strike systems division. He was elected president of the Woodland Hills Country Club’s board of directors in 1982, serving one year, and served several additional years on the board.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Inez Bothwell; sons Robert L. Bothwell Jr. of San Diego, Max L. Bothwell of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and James L. Bothwell of Annandale, Va.; and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. today at Pierce Brothers-Praiswater Mortuary, 7245 Remmet Ave. in Canoga Park. Burial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia will follow later this week. Aftercare California Cremation and Burial Society is handling the arrangements.

Donations can be made in Bothwell’s name to the American Cancer Society, San Fernando Valley Unit.