Van Roberson Layson
Beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend Van Roberson Layson of Eatonton, Ga. died Saturday, May 23, 2015. He now rests in peace with his wife of 62 years, Gertie Holmes Layson, who died on February 4, 2014.
Van was born in Eatonton on July 1, 1928 to Gus and Allie Gerhart Layson of Eatonton. He served in the United States Army for 34 months.
Van, a native and longtime resident of Eatonton, was a lifelong educator, dedicated to helping children of all ages, especially those in need. He attended Young Harris College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a special major in Exact Science from Georgia Southern University. Van received his Master of Arts in School Administration from Appalachian State University and continued post graduate studies at the University of Virginia, the University of Georgia and Georgia Southwestern College.
After he and Gertie graduated from Young Harris College, Van began his teaching career in Pelham, Ga. He was a classroom teacher for the next 13 years in several Georgia school systems including Rabun, Young Harris and Morgan counties. After teaching, he focused on early education programs in his role as the federal programs coordinator for Putnam and Jasper counties.
One of Van’s proudest achievements was securing funding and support to establish full year Head Start programs in Jasper and Putnam counties.
Van was elected superintendent of Putnam County schools and served from 1980 to 1984. He pushed hard to instill accountability and higher standards for Putnam County’s children.
He implemented a program to evaluate teachers and administrators, rewrote curriculum guides and introduced standardized testing.
During his tenure, Butler-Baker Elementary School was accredited with honors and Putnam County Middle School was named a School of Excellence. He used his federal programs expertise to obtain funding for many initiatives, including a speech development program and a physical education program for elementary school.
Van was recognized for his contributions in Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Who’s Who in Georgia and Personalities of the South. He also provided his expertise and leadership to Gatewood Schools in Eatonton as interim headmaster in the early 1990s.
Van loved music and was an avid bird watcher who could recognize many species just by their call. He wrote poetry, short stories and published his first novel in 2011, A Soldier’s Journey, a fictional account of young soldier during the American Civil War.
He was working on his second book about a boy named Percy. Van loved cats, and always named them “Sam.”
He was a former deacon and Sunday school teacher at the First Baptist Church of Eatonton.
Survivors include his daughters Teri Layson of Burbank, Calif. and Jeannie (John) Shiffer of Clifton, Va.; sons, Steve Layson of Macon and Bobby (Sandy) Layson of LaGrange, Ga.; sisters Janie (Winford) Little of Eatonton and Eleanor Sirmons of Hawkinsville, Ga.; brother Addison (Connie) Layson of Calhoun, Ga.; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren and many other relatives.
In honor of Van’s memory, donate to one of the following organizations: the building fund of the First Baptist Church of Eatonton; the Macon, Georgia chapter of Habitat for Humanity; or the Putnam County Veterans Wall of Honor Park.