Webb Salmon
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Ollie "Webb" Salmon, 95 years old, left this earthly existence on the evening of December 15, 2020. He was born in the foothills of North Alabama, in the small cotton mill town of Piedmont, to Charmion Webb Salmon and Ollie J. Salmon. Growing up, he delivered newspapers by bike, played basketball on the YMCA's Friendly Indians team, and participated in youth activities of the Methodist Church. It was at Piedmont High that Webb came to greatly enjoy school and all it entailed, thereby starting on his path as a life-long learner and teacher. It was also there that he began to fall in love with his classmate, the beautiful Joyce Gossett, who caught his eye and kept it for over seven decades, including nearly 68 years of marriage, until her death in 2016.
In 1943 Webb entered the US Army where he served as a machine gunner in WWII. He was assigned to the 100th Infantry Division which fought in the Alsace-Lorrain area of France and on into Germany. As a 19-year-old machine gun section chief, Staff Sergeant Salmon earned the Combat Infantry Badge and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with V device for Valor.
After his war service Webb joined the ranks of veterans attending college on the G.I. Bill and earned his Masters in English at University of Chattanooga. He and Joyce married and had their first child, Emily, in Chattanooga. His first year of teaching was in Munford, Alabama, followed by two years in Chattanooga. He then accepted a job in Columbus, Indiana, where he taught high school for 14 years and was the chairman of the English Department. In Columbus two more children, Scott and Laura, were born.
Mr. Salmon eventually became a recognized expert in the teaching of writing, leading workshops for high school teachers around the country. After teaching summer workshops at Florida State University in the mid-1960s, Webb was offered a position developing their freshman writing program, supervising graduate assistants and training them to teach writing. He also taught and loved Southern Literature: William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Thomas Wolfe, Flannery O'Connor, Mark Twain. Teaching was his passion and by all accounts, Webb Salmon was an excellent teacher. Some of his former students have maintained correspondence with him for over 60 years and have attested to the major effect he had on their lives. Gerald Ensley, former writer for the Tallahassee Democrat, has said that Webb Salmon is the one teacher who taught him to read critically.
Webb Salmon loved his family and was happiest when sitting at their big dining table after dinner and having long conversations. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and son. After his retirement in 1991, he and Joyce moved to Alabama to help his aging mother for several years and then returned to their home in Tallahassee to be close to many of their children and grandchildren. In his last years he formed a special bond with the youngest of the local great-grandchildren, six-year-old Ben. They were special friends and spent many hours with Webb teaching Ben to recite a Robert Frost poem. Webb spent the last week of his life with family by his side and being cared for by the kind and capable staff of the Big Bend Hospice.
Webb is survived by daughters Emily Burke (Jim) and Laura Wharton; daughter-in-law Linda Salmon; grandchildren Jessica (Pat), Molly (Chris), Nathan (Janae), Magnolia (Travis), and August (Juli); and great-grandchildren Sadie, Asa, Jackzon, Walter, Jake, Ben, and Oakley. He was predeceased by his granddaughter Texanne and by his son, Scott Salmon. A family service will be held at a future date in North Alabama.