'Service and love:' Former Mayor and Science Hill football coach dies

Former Mayor and Science Hill football coach Bob May died Friday. A longtime community leader and servant of the city, he served as mayor of Johnson City from 1997 to 1999 and vice mayor from 1995 to 1997. "Coach May was one of the finest men I've ever been around," Johnson City Commissioner Todd Fowler said. "He will be missed by many, many people in our community. He has gone to join his wife, his biggest fan, in Heaven. Wanda May was waiting there with open arms to greet her 'Coach' for eternity." May coached and taught for almost 40 years, the majority of that time in Johnson City, before retiring in 1995. He then immediately went into public service for the city. May had been married to his wife, Wanda, a longtime community beacon in her own right, for 64 years before she passed away in October. "It was with a great deal of sadness that I learned this past weekend of the death of my friend Coach May," state Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, said. "However, at the same time I felt a great sense of tranquility knowing that "coach" is now with his sweetheart Wanda." Just two years ago, the city unveiled "Coach Bob May Lane," which runs in front of Science Hill High School. May was a U.S. Army veteran. He was inducted into the Science Hill Football Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Johnson City Parks and Recreation Wall of Fame the same year. Along with coaching at Science Hill, he also spent an eight-year stretch coaching at rival Dobyns-Bennett. He served as head coach at "He was so well liked that he was one of the few who could pull off coaching at both schools, even though they are fierce rivals," Fowler said. Crowe said he had seen him recently. "I had just visited him at the Mountain Home Veterans Nursing Facility where I found that he was cared for, lovingly, as a veteran, in much the same way that he cared for his students, athletes and their families," Crowe said. Crowe said he remembers fondly the ceremony held two years ago for the naming of the road in May's honor. He said he listened to former players and friends speak about May and it gave him a new perspective of the man. "It gave me a new awareness of just how far reaching his life has been in terms of touching the lives of thousands of students, their families and even the citizens of our great state through this many years of service and teaching as a coach and as an elected official , as well," Crowe said. "An amazing legacy of service and love." Staff writer Ben Smith contributed to this report.