This is a very delayed and long post as I have been moving, changing jobs, dealing with the loss of a close childhood friend, and other life obligations on top of losing my grandfather, Neal Weatherly, Jr. Some who knew him may already be aware of Neal’s passing and I am not an active poster by any means, but I’ve been wanting to post something to honor him since he went home to be with the Lord earlier this month so here it is.
Neal Weatherly, Jr. passed away at the age of 85 on January 6th of this year, surrounded by family after a long and slow health decline over the past couple of years. He was a longtime member of the UGA Rivals forums and introduced me to following recruiting and other topics related to Georgia football via this site many years ago during my childhood. I believe his username may have been LADawg (that could be wrong and even if it is, still, thank you Radi for attempting to track that down, that tiny nugget means more than you know). He would have me log in to his account and search for specific recruits names and recent posts by insiders while pondering out loud what each news tidbit meant for the team. I remember one time going with my mom (his daughter) to see him in the hospital after he had a surgery maybe 15ish years ago during the CMR era and after briefly giving an update on his health and how the procedure went, he immediately whipped out his legal pad that he had been jotting down next season’s potential depth chart on and proceeded to hold court for the next 45 minutes on on the DL depth, size, star rating, 40 time, where they were from, what role they might play in pass rush/run stopping scheme, gap responsibility and lord knows what other info just to finish with “if we can land these boys, we might be pretty good upfront over the next couple of years.” While visiting with family during the week of his passing and visitation, I heard a story that many moons ago, he would save up long distance phone minutes and some money as well for extra minutes until football season and the heavy recruiting/signing period so he and his buddies could discuss what they were hearing, how the team was playing, who they liked, who the coaches liked, their potential roles and to compare notes up with each other up until signing day.
Neal was from Leesburg, GA and attended the University of Georgia obtaining a Bachelors and Masters degree in landscape design. He then worked for the Extension Service for a number of years before becoming an Associate Professor in the College of Environment and Design. So from the time he stepped on campus at 18 until he retired from teaching a few years ago, he essentially never left the University of Georgia. He loved his students and his favorites were of course when UGA football players took his classes, including Will Witherspoon. He was a season ticket holder for 50+ years and I have many memories of going to games with him over the last 30 of those years. One of my favorites was being at the Tennessee game in 2000 when the fans stormed the field, destroyed the hedges and ripped out the goalposts. We just sat up there in our seats for a good half hour watching all of the chaos unfold while cheering and laughing until we were physically unable to. I will cherish that memory and many others from games with him in Sanford Stadium for as long as I live. Even though it was a loss to ND in the playoffs, I am so glad I got to watch one last game with him before his passing as watching games with him.
As the chaos of the last few weeks in my personal life has started to die down and I am finally able to write this while still surrounded by the last few moving boxes yet to be unpacked, the reality of his passing is starting to set in even after being in the room with him when he left this Earth. In between bouts of sobbing, laughing and smiling at the thought of many memories that have come rushing back, I am fully realizing what a treasure of a human this planet has lost. The world knew him as Neal, his students knew him as Professor Wealtherly, but I had the greatest privilege of all in knowing his as G’Daddy. He was an incredible man and the most wonderful grandfather ever. To me, he epitomized what it meant to be Damn Good Dawg and we will sorely miss him but he is finally in a better place.
After he retired from teaching, the Neal Weatherly Scholarship in Landscape Architecture was founded in his honor. Given how difficult it was for him to step away and his overall love for and dedication to the University, this honor was incredibly touching to him and one of his proudest achievements. For anyone that knew him and would like to honor his memory, our family is asking for donations to be made to his scholarship fund so we can continue to honor his achievements in the field of landscape architecture and provide resources for aspiring students to follow in his footsteps. On the off chance someone reading this post knew him personally, please drop a story as I would love to read it.
Rest easy, G. We love you.
Neal Weatherly, Jr. passed away at the age of 85 on January 6th of this year, surrounded by family after a long and slow health decline over the past couple of years. He was a longtime member of the UGA Rivals forums and introduced me to following recruiting and other topics related to Georgia football via this site many years ago during my childhood. I believe his username may have been LADawg (that could be wrong and even if it is, still, thank you Radi for attempting to track that down, that tiny nugget means more than you know). He would have me log in to his account and search for specific recruits names and recent posts by insiders while pondering out loud what each news tidbit meant for the team. I remember one time going with my mom (his daughter) to see him in the hospital after he had a surgery maybe 15ish years ago during the CMR era and after briefly giving an update on his health and how the procedure went, he immediately whipped out his legal pad that he had been jotting down next season’s potential depth chart on and proceeded to hold court for the next 45 minutes on on the DL depth, size, star rating, 40 time, where they were from, what role they might play in pass rush/run stopping scheme, gap responsibility and lord knows what other info just to finish with “if we can land these boys, we might be pretty good upfront over the next couple of years.” While visiting with family during the week of his passing and visitation, I heard a story that many moons ago, he would save up long distance phone minutes and some money as well for extra minutes until football season and the heavy recruiting/signing period so he and his buddies could discuss what they were hearing, how the team was playing, who they liked, who the coaches liked, their potential roles and to compare notes up with each other up until signing day.
Neal was from Leesburg, GA and attended the University of Georgia obtaining a Bachelors and Masters degree in landscape design. He then worked for the Extension Service for a number of years before becoming an Associate Professor in the College of Environment and Design. So from the time he stepped on campus at 18 until he retired from teaching a few years ago, he essentially never left the University of Georgia. He loved his students and his favorites were of course when UGA football players took his classes, including Will Witherspoon. He was a season ticket holder for 50+ years and I have many memories of going to games with him over the last 30 of those years. One of my favorites was being at the Tennessee game in 2000 when the fans stormed the field, destroyed the hedges and ripped out the goalposts. We just sat up there in our seats for a good half hour watching all of the chaos unfold while cheering and laughing until we were physically unable to. I will cherish that memory and many others from games with him in Sanford Stadium for as long as I live. Even though it was a loss to ND in the playoffs, I am so glad I got to watch one last game with him before his passing as watching games with him.
As the chaos of the last few weeks in my personal life has started to die down and I am finally able to write this while still surrounded by the last few moving boxes yet to be unpacked, the reality of his passing is starting to set in even after being in the room with him when he left this Earth. In between bouts of sobbing, laughing and smiling at the thought of many memories that have come rushing back, I am fully realizing what a treasure of a human this planet has lost. The world knew him as Neal, his students knew him as Professor Wealtherly, but I had the greatest privilege of all in knowing his as G’Daddy. He was an incredible man and the most wonderful grandfather ever. To me, he epitomized what it meant to be Damn Good Dawg and we will sorely miss him but he is finally in a better place.
After he retired from teaching, the Neal Weatherly Scholarship in Landscape Architecture was founded in his honor. Given how difficult it was for him to step away and his overall love for and dedication to the University, this honor was incredibly touching to him and one of his proudest achievements. For anyone that knew him and would like to honor his memory, our family is asking for donations to be made to his scholarship fund so we can continue to honor his achievements in the field of landscape architecture and provide resources for aspiring students to follow in his footsteps. On the off chance someone reading this post knew him personally, please drop a story as I would love to read it.
Rest easy, G. We love you.
