Golf and Chattanooga Have Lost Another Oehmig

 

It was a classic Father’ Day golf picture.

No, not Jack and Arnie and their kids relaxing at Augusta National with the Dogwoods blooming.

But the Oehmig men – Lew, the family patriarch, with his youngest son, King, and his then two grade school age sons Henry and John, all crowded into, what else, a golf cart and donning that Oehmig glasses look – round, turtle shell-colored eye wear – so distinct to the long time Lookout Mountain links family.

Long known for its well-designed Sunday feature photos and most likely the idea of former sports editor Sam Woolwine, this one graced the front of the Lifestyle Father’ Day edition of the Chattanooga Free Press thirtysomething years ago.

And now just shy of four weeks prior to Father’s Day 2015 and those young Oehmig boys now adults lost Lew, their grandfather in 2002 and now King, their dad, just two days ago.

Passed away due to an apparent heart attack while fishing, Oehmig, 63, leaves behind an impressive legacy as golfer, preacher and most importantly husband, father and friend to many.

Raised at the Lookout Mountain Playground and numerous area golf courses in the 1950s and 60s, Oehmig played all the sports under the watchful eye of coach Buck Stamps from rec football and basketball to Lookout Mountain Little Boys Baseball, all the while knowing his trusty 3-wood, pitching wedge and putter were his tickets to long term sports success.

He honed his skills well enough to earn all-Mid-South golfing honors at Baylor School (’69) and later two-year team captain at Virginia (’73), his dad’s alma mater, in the tough Atlantic Coast Conference.

But he made his mark as a golf coach at Baylor in a dozen years – 21 combined (boys and girls) state championships and Southern and national accolades - before turning the program over to current coach Gary Partrick.

He also served as the golf coach at The University of the South and was on the committee which led the way for the re-design of the Sewanee 9-hole on campus golf course.

And of all the honors and awards he has received, maybe one of the most cherished came three weeks ago (May3) as he was inducted into the Lookout Mountain Sports Hall of Fame joining his dad, a charter member in 1991.

Yet, one of his great stories in the past couple of years wasn’t about a Baylor or UVa winning rally on the back nine, but what he learned from his dad away from the 18 holes.

In the summer months in the mid 1960s, Mr. Oehmig would drop his son off at the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club most every week day morning on the way to work and pick him up at the end the day headed for home.

“One day, I had had a bad day on the course and wasn’t up to any small talk or looking to help friend or foe, but what I learned that day was priceless," stated Oehmig who was on the founding board of Chattanooga Habitat for Humanity in the early 1990s.

“As we were leaving the Country Club parking lot my dad offered a ride home to a few of the workers.

“Not just a ride down the street to the nearest bus stop and ‘you can get home from there’, but he went out of his way to take them to their homes where ever that was in the city.

“I’ll never forget that genuine kindness my dad showed many times to others when no one was watching.”

While the son has the aforementioned coaching titles and tourneys won – including Signal Mountain Invite and a couple of member-guest Swing Dings – it’s the memories of a man, gracious in victory and defeat and kind to one and all.

And the apple didn’t fall far from the family tree.

Contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net