Late fire inspector’s badge inspires garden

ANDERSON – Tears well up in Nettie Stansell’s eyes when she talks about how she spent the last couple of months planning a small, simple garden in her front yard.

The garden is shaped like a badge, rimmed with yellow chrysanthemums and young green shrubbery. All around the plants is a bed of small white rocks. And in the middle of the garden is a wrought-iron bench with a small table.

All of it, from the color of the flowers to the shape of the garden itself and the design on the top of the small table, has one purpose: to be a reflection of the memory of her husband, Robert.

For 47 years, Nettie and Robert were married. Then cancer took him this summer.

“I put my love into that garden,” Nettie said, as she wiped her eyes.

Photo by Ken Ruinard, Anderson Independent Mail

Robert Stansell, seen in this undated photograph, was a city of Anderson firefighter. Stansell, the city’s first fire inspector, died earlier this year.

The garden pays tribute to a man who took care of so much in her and their son’s world. Their only son, Russell, is 43 years old and is autistic. He still lives at home. Nettie said this garden is for her son to sit in so he can remember his father.

It is here so they can both remember.

Russell can remember the man who was careful to plan their vacation to the beach every year. His mother can remember the man who saw her around town 47 years ago and found the courage to ask her out when they were both filling up their cars at a gas station near downtown Anderson.

Nettie, a native of Franklin County, Ga., had been working at Owens-Corning Fiberglass on S.C. 81 South for about five years when she met Robert the first time. She worked second shift at the plant then.

“I remember he was driving a 1965 Ford convertible,” she said, her eyes shining. “He seemed real nice and more grown up.”

He was a sensible man, she said.

At the time, Robert worked for the Anderson Fire Department. He went on to become a lieutenant there and was the city’s first fire inspector, Nettie said.

Firefighter’s memory honored with family garden

* See this entire gallery at full size

She said she learned in the years to come that Robert, who was born and raised in Anderson, was smart as well. He always paid for cash for everything, and spent a lot of his time working jobs on the side to help supplement his pay as a city firefighter.

There were many things that she never had to worry about because he took care of them.

She spent 38 years working for Owens-Corning, and he spent more than 20 years at the fire department. He worked at improving their home on Bellview Road, and he coached Little League teams when he had the time. He also worked at painting and pest control and was good at trading stocks, Nettie said.

“We both worked hard and had pride in the work that we did,” she said.

Robert was always strong and rarely sick, but he got sick earlier this year. They thought he had pneumonia at first. But he had cancer in his lungs. In his last days, he taught Nettie how to handle some of the paperwork that she would have to take care of if the cancer became too much for him to fight.

In July, about a month after their 47th wedding anniversary, Robert died. He was 71.

“He was always visualizing things in the future for us,” Nettie said. “He was always trying to take care of us. I just miss all the love he gave us. He always sat down to eat with us. He was dedicated to us.”

Photo by Ken Ruinard, Anderson Independent Mail

Nettie Stansell of Anderson sits with her son, Russell, and is surrounded by the White and Goodine families. Neighbors helped finish a rock garden in the Stansells’ front yard that honored Nettie’s late husband, Robert. The badge shape of the garden pays homage to Robert’s profession, that of a firefighter and Anderson’s first fire inspector.

Making the garden was therapy for her as she spent weeks planning out the details of the small space. Her neighbors, family and friends helped her with the design.

The work strengthened those relationships. Some of her younger neighbors treat her like a grandmother. She baked a pound cake to thank neighbor Charles White for his extra help.

The garden’s shape is modeled after his fire-inspector badge. Nettie pulled in the red, blue, yellow and white colors from the seal in the middle of that badge for the design on the top of the round table that sits in the middle of the garden.

No matter the season, this place will need tending and care, Nettie said.

“Now, I have it fixed, except for some type of marker, here at the entrance,” she said. “And when the seasons change, I will plant yellow pansies in place of the chrysanthemums.”

Late fire inspector’s badge inspires garden

Speak Your Mind Cancel reply

Innovative vertical growing

Recent Post

Categories