| Graduation Year | Faculty |
| Date of Passing | Sep 12, 2015 |
| About | Dr. Nelson Post Some where over the net a few lines were left out on the Dr Nelson post I submitted. I am going to try again. The family and Jack has been in contact and asked if it could be corrected. I also have a few photos I would like to send along. LHS's First Principal A Professional/Personal bio for Robert "Bob" "Doc" "Big Red" "Red Dog" Robert E.Nelson. Doc was born November 11, 1927 near Asheville, NC. He grew up exploring every nook and cranny of the Western Carolina Appalachian mountains. He was an avid outdoorsman, being a master of the fly rod, and a cracker jack shot with an old Savage 300 rifle. He was as much at home in the woods and on the rivers and streams as most people are in their local Walmart! Doc's degrees were an undergraduate degree in Math and Industrial Arts from UNC Cullowhee; a Masters of Education from UNC in 1958; a PhD from UNC in 1961; and an additional 2 year post doctoral work in Educational Administration was completed in 1963, also from UNC. You might suspect, and rightly so, that he was a Tarheels fan. . He was awarded the first Principal's position at the newly built Lakeside High School in 1965-1967. We already know about those three years! I'm sure there are many stories about Doc and his tenure at LHS floating around as he had such a strong presence everywhere he went. He never knew a stranger. Missing the foothills, he left with the first graduating class in 1967. He purchased 30 acres of mountaintop where he built a beautiful home and raised his family near Cleveland, GA. He became the Director of the Ninth District CESA Unit, a multi-county, multi-school agency handling all technology and repairs within the District. He eventually taught math at Hall County High School, receiving the Star Teacher award, and developing a consumer math program focusing on real life things like balancing checkbooks and analyzing mortgages, and stayed there until he retired. After that, it was fishing and traveling for the next 3 decades. On a more personal note, Doc and Billie L. Gandy, a Forsan, Texas girl, were married 60 years from 1954 until Billie's death. Quite a testament for both of them in this day and age. After a valiant battle with cancer, Billie died on September 25, 2014. Doc never fully recovered from her passing and died September 12, 2015 literally from a broken heart. He lost the love of his life and his will to live simultaneously, but limped on without her for about a year. Military life. Doc joined the Navy during WWII, and served from September 11, 1945 through August 17, 1946. Amazing because he wasn't quite 18 years old when he joined! He said he lied about his age in order to join in a patriotic fervor, but was happy to leave when the war was over. While in the Air Force during the Korean War Doc flew F-84's. His fighter pilot name was "Red Dog". He trained at Webb, Barstow and Luke Air Force Bases, 1953-1954, and was then sent to England (the reason Doc and Billie were married in December, 1954 -- so Billie could accompany him to England). Bob and Billie had four children. Rebecca, also an avid fly fisher and past pilot, lives in Fairhope, AL, and Red Lodge, MT. Melanie lives in Spartanburg, SC and has two children. Son Britt, lives in Fairbanks, Alaska and has the life Bob always wanted – fishing and hunting grizzly. And Mark, who has the other two grandchildren, lives in Fairbanks during the Fall and Winter (hunting season) and Oxnard, California during the Spring & Summer. Rebecca and the "boys" have all followed in their Dad's footsteps and taken advantage of all that the outdoors have to offer. Doc was a great man and a great friend! He turned my life totally around. I'm sure there are many more who can say he significantly changed their lives too. He was my Hero. Penned by Jack Flanders LHS Class of 1967 |
