Service: Friday, September 20, 2013 at 2pm, St. John in the Wilderness Church, Flat Rock, NC

Teddy Joe Oliver passed away Friday, August 23rd, 2013 in Hendersonville, NC with his devoted wife, Ann, by his side. He was also joined by his youngest brother Lonnie, Lonnie's wife Sandra, as well as several close friends. Ted was born in 1950 to Ruth and Earl Oliver in the mountains of North Georgia and is a direct descendant of the Oliver family homestead in Cades Cove, Tennessee.  Industrious and hard working, Ted found jobs in countless places including copper mines, carpet factories, pharmacies, and florist shops, saving money for his academic pursuits. Ted began his studies at Reinhardt College in 1969, and completed his Bachelors of Science in Art Education from the University of Georgia (UGA) in 1974. He then went on to earn a Masters in Art Education and an Education Specialist Degree from UGA as well as a Fullbrigt Scholarship in Helsinki, Finland. With a love for learning and the arts, Ted's career as an art educator spanned the course of almost four decades, covered kindergarten to university level curriculum, and included Cobb, Fannin, and Union County School Systems. He was an International Baccalaureate educator, President of the Georgia Art Education Association, served on the NAEA Board of Examiners for the U.S. Education Standards, President of the Union County Historical Society, President of the Towns/Union Credit Union, as well as countless other positions of leadership throughout the state of Georgia. He was awarded Teacher of the Year Marietta City Schools 1976, Union County Schools 1981, Fannin County Middle School 1991, Campbell High School 1996, and Campbell High School 2000. Other awards include Georgia Art Educator of the Year 1993, Georgia Secondary Art Educator of the Year 1989, Rotary and Fullbrigt Scholar, and countless others. Ted taught at Campbell High School for twelve years before retiring in 2005. Throughout the course of his teaching career Ted served as an educator, mentor and friend to countess children and young adults. A testament to the profound influence he had on so many young lives, several of Ted's former students have become lifelong friends. Upon retirement, Ted and Ann moved to Hendersonville, NC where they owned and operated Olivers' Southern Folk Art, a gallery dedicated to the celebration and preservation of folk and outsider art throughout Appalachia. In the words of Ted's sister in-law, Sandra, "Ted taught us many important life lessons, but above all else, he taught us how to die".