Born in High Point, North Carolina, Sappenfield graduated in 1940 from High Point Central High School where he lettered in golf, football, and wrestling. A three-time state wrestling champion, Sappenfield received a scholarship to Appalachian State Teachers College, but was drafted into the U.S. Army during Second World War. Early on the morning of June 6, 1944, Sappenfield landed on Omaha Beach as part of the Army's legendary 1st Infantry Division. Attached to the 29th Ranger Battalion, Sappenfield’s outfit provided anti-aircraft support for the vital beachhead. For his action on those critical first hours of the D-Day invasion, he was promoted to Staff Sergeant. In the months that followed, he took part in the fierce fighting across the hedgerows of Normandy and the subsequent advance toward Paris. As US forces approached the Rhine River, Sappenfield would take part in the grueling fight for the Hurtgen Forest as well as the Battle of the Bulge that followed. Having entered the war as a private, Sappenfield was discharged in October 1945 having earned a battlefield commission as a 2nd Lieutenant for his service. Returning to North Carolina, Sappenfield reinstated the wrestling program at High Point High school and his teams won three consecutive North Carolina High School State Championships (1947, 1948, 1949). His high school teams wrestled colleges, among them UNC, Davidson, and Duke. Eight members of Sappenfield’s teams were awarded scholarships at Appalachian State, with Bobby Baird, Wayne York, and Jerry Daniels being inducted into the Appalachian State Sports Hall of Fame.  Sappenfield earned a degree from High Point College and while in college coached wrestling at the High Point YMCA in addition to officiating. Later he earned a master’s degree at Emory University in Georgia and continued coaching and officiating. Sappenfield was inducted into High Point Central High School’s Sports Hall of Fame as a wrestler and golfer. In 2007, he was inducted into the North Carolina Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. On Veterans Day 2015, Bob was presented by France the Legion Medal of Honor for services in World War II by The French Consulate at a special ceremony in Charlotte. Sappenfield worked for Dillard Paper Company until retiring at age 75. His son Tim Sappenfield was inducted into the North Carolina Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014.