Jerry Ransom

FORT OGLETHORPE — Monday morning Ron Arp dropped by Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School to visit. As an assistant principal on an 11-month contract, he was off duty.

“We talked about the family vacation he was taking next week,” principal Jerry Ransom said.

That night Mr. Arp, 58, died at his home, presumably of a heart attack, Mr. Ransom said.

Wednesday, Mr. Ransom and his staff were still reeling from the loss.

“Just last Friday, my wife and I; Ron and his wife, Doodle; another assistant principal and her husband went to Nightfall,” he said. “We are family like that, in school and outside.”

Friends and faculty were bringing cakes, hams, potato salad and vegetable trays to school for delivery to the Arps’ home.

“We are OK until we come in the building,” said Ann Rowan, school secretary for 30 years. “Then it absolutely chokes you to death.”

Mr. Arp spent his 30-year career at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School. He taught history and served as an athletic coach.

“His heart was here,” said Kim Helton, an attendance clerk. “He was a wonderful man.”

Mr. Arp had the rare gift of handing out discipline without making enemies, those who knew him said.

“He could discipline you one second and five seconds later he was joking with you,” said Natalie McGill Bannon, a 1999 LFO graduate. “He was well respected for that.”

Mrs. Bannon, who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, said she learned of Mr. Arp’s death on a former teacher’s MySpace page.

“He’s part of so many of the memories, so many funny stories,” Mrs. Bannon said. “He’s one of those teachers you think of in a good way when you remember high school.”

Mr. Arp’s son Matt, 23, is an LFO graduate and Mason, 17, is a rising senior. Mr. Ransom said his colleague had been talking about retirement.

“It’s Mason’s senior year and Ron planned to go out with him,” Mr. Ransom said. “It’s going to be hardest on him; he’s the one we are worried about.”

The family will receive friends today and Friday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Home on Battlefield Parkway. Funeral services are set for 11 a.m. Saturday at Parkway Baptist Temple.

Memorial contributions may be made to a scholarship fund in Mr. Arp’s name at Northwest Georgia Bank, 3610 Battlefield Parkway.

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