A Trio of Friends Enter Lookout Mountain Sports Hall of Fame Today

Rob Healy, King Oehmig, Forrest Simmons Part of Class of 2015

  • Sunday, May 3, 2015
  • B.B. Branton
Hall of Famers: (l-r) King Oehmig, Rob Healy and Forrest Simmons were members of the Lookout Mountain School class of 1963
Hall of Famers: (l-r) King Oehmig, Rob Healy and Forrest Simmons were members of the Lookout Mountain School class of 1963
photo by Mary Duncan

"Rob Healy is fhe fiercest competitor I have ever played with or against."

Forrest Simmons, classmate at Lk Mtn School

 

Every grammar school class across this city and region has had the two or three great athletes (boys and girls) who were the softball studs at recess, the kings and queens of wall ball, steal the bacon and dodge ball among others activities.

So what happened to those super stars from long ago?

Well, in the case of the Lookout Mountain Elementary School class of 1963, there are four graduates who went on to succeed at the NCAA Division I level and are in a combined 10 halls of fame - Roscoe Tanner (tennis, Stanford), Rob Healy (football, Ga.

Tech), King Oehmig (golf, Virginia) and Forrest Simmons (tennis, North Carolina).

This afternoon at 3 p.m. in the Lookout Mountain School Gym - which was all but their second home as kids in the 1950s and early ‘60s - Healy, Oehmig and Simmons will join seven others as the class of 2015 will be inducted into the Lookout Mountain Sports Hall of Fame (Tanner was a charter member in 1991).

“For the vast majority of us growing up on Lookout Mountain in the 1950s and 1960s was the positive influence coach Buck Stamps had on our lives,” said Healy who follows his dad (Bill) and brother (Chip) into this hall of fame.

“He exposed us to every sport, taught us the basic rules and fundamentals of the various sports, made sure we were prepared for the next level (junior high/middle school) of competition, emphasized sportsmanship and did all that in a very low key way.”

Impressive List of Hall of Famers (see complete list below)

“For a community our size and to have such a who’se who of athletes and coaches in this hall of fame is quite impressive,” said Simmons.

“My family and I moved to Lookout Mountain from Atlanta in the last year so, and for me to now be back in the community where I grew up and be inducted into this hall of fame has extra meaning.”

Like Healy, Oehmig joins his late father, Lew Oehmig, in this sports hall.

“Honestly, I am shocked I am going in this hall of fame with people holding pretty impressive resumes,” said Oehmig who was then reminded by one classmate of his 21 state golf championships as the Baylor School golf coach.

Echoing what Healy said, Oehmig mentioned that coach Stamps “really emphasized sportsmanship and shaking hands with your opponents before and after the game or match, all the while striving to be the best you could be and giving it your all.”

Simmons pointed out the key to Oehmig’s coaching success was his ability to inspire his players, showing that he genuinely cared about them and the athletes were part of a family.

“With the Baylor golf program I did my best to model our program after the Wake Forest golf program (three NCAA titles, four national second place finishes, plus PGA golfers including Arnold Palmer, Lanny Watkins, Curtis Strange, Jay Haas etc.) in creating an environment to become the best,” stated Oehmig.

With the life lessons taught them by coach Stamps and others decades ago still very much a part of their lives, these three are worthy to take their place today in the Lookout Mountain Sports Hall of Fame.

The Lookout Mountain Sports Hall of Fame has 37 members, including the class of 2015. Below are inductees listed by year and their photos are displayed at Lookout Mountain School near the memorial gymnasium.

Class of 2015 (10): Yogi Anderson, Chris Brown, Bill Caulkins, Rob Healy, Skeeter Johnston, King Oehmig, Toby Silberman, Forrest Simmons, Eric Voges, Sue Webb

Class of 2010 (10):  Cindy Kemp Battle, Bill Chipley, Betsy Caulkins Bookout, George Dickinson, Roy Exum, Chip Healy, Wig Robinson, Paul Tessmann, Frank Willett, Mark Williamson

Class of 2008 (10): Marilyn Voges Brown, Dr. Charlotte Grant, Alex Guerry Jr., Bob Klein, Jack Lupton, Joe McGinness Sr., Hugh Morrow, Teresa Lawrence Phillips, Buck Stamps, Dave Telford

 

Class of 1991 (7): Zan Guerry, Bill Healy, Lew Oehmig, Betty Probasco, Nick Senter, Bill Spears, Roscoe Tanner

 

 

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

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