Robert Eugene "Bob" Yongue III

Robert (Bob) Eugene Yongue, III of Athens, died Tuesday, January 20. He was 86.
Born in Laurinburg, N.C., Yongue graduated from Scotland County High School in 1945 and attended Georgia Military Academy (Woodruff Academy) in Atlanta and later Duke University in North Carolina. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1951, Yongue was stationed in Guam and served in Armed Forces Radio. Following his honorable discharge in 1955, Yongue attended the University of Houston, earning a degree in broadcast journalism. While in Houston, he met and married his wife of 57 years, Michal.
During his broadcasting career, Yongue worked in various radio stations in Houston; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and in Athens, where he served as news and sports director for WRFC Radio from 1963-1967. As part of his on-air responsibilities, Yongue was the play-by-play announcer for the University of Georgia's Men's Basketball and Baseball teams and the color commentator for the UGA Football team with announcer Ed Thilenius and later Larry Munson, roles he continued part-time until 1972.
Simultaneous to his tenure in local radio, Yongue taught electronic courses at Athens Area Vocational Technical School (later, Athens Technical College), which led him to pursue a new career in adult education. Yongue affiliated with Athens Tech full-time in 1967, serving as the Industrial Relations Coordinator and later the Quick Start Program Director. While at Athens Tech, he earned his masters (1973) and specialist (1981) degrees in adult education from the University of Georgia. Among his many accomplishments, Yongue was instrumental in establishing the EMT training program for Northeast Georgia in 1972, which led to him receiving the EMS Special Achievement Award in 1993.
Active in the community, Yongue was a member of the Athens-Clarke County Personnel Board from 1980-94; the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce Industrial Development Committee; the Development Advisory Committee of the Northeast Georgia Area Planning and Development Commission; the Mayor's Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped; the Northeast Georgia Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council; the Athens Downtown Council; the L.E.A.D. Athens Class of 1992-93; the 1996 Olympic Games Volunteer Committee; the Athens Choral Society; the Athens Barbershop Quartet; and Chapelwood United Methodist Church, where he served in various leadership capacities and sang in the choir. He was an avid tennis and bridge player, woodworker and "Mr. Fix-It," and he held a passion for music.
Yongue was preceded in death by his parents, Robert Eugene and Elizabeth Yongue, Jr., Laurinburg, N.C. He is survived by his wife, Michal; his daughter, Mickey Yongue Montevideo,Bogart; his son, Robert (Rob) Eugene Yongue, IV, Atlanta; his grandson, Harrison Robert Montevideo, Bogart; his step-granddaughter, Melissa Montevideo May, Gainesville, Fla.; his brother and sister-in-law, Douglas Yates and Millie Yongue,Laurinburg; and a number of nieces and nephews.
Visitation and a funeral service will be held Saturday, January 24 at Chapelwood United Methodist Church, 100 Janice Drive,Athens. The family will receive visitors at 1 p.m., and the service will be held at 2 p.m., with burial immediately following in Oconee Hills Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Ray Caldwell,D.W. Dye, Joseph Dye, Harrison Montevideo, Dale Skeppstrom, Buster Sykes, Roy Woods and Douglas Yongue. Honorary pallbearers will be the Men's Club and Chancel Choir of Chapelwood United Methodist Church, along with his former tennis partners and fellow bridge club members. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Chapelwood United Methodist Church.