Robert (Bob) Jay South passed away peacefully on Dec. 28, 2024, at 87 years old. Bob was born in Worland, Wyoming, on Jan. 11, 1938. Bob’s life was one of creativity, dedication and a deep love for both family and nature.
Bob grew up in the Big Horn Basin in Worland, Wyoming. Some of his favorite pastimes were swimming in the canal, hunting, fishing and spending time at the family cabin by Meadow Lark Lake. He worked with his father in his younger years, learning the flooring business and installing miles of carpet and sheet goods. He also worked as a roughneck in the oil fields before moving to Laramie, where he attended the University of Wyoming and obtained an art education degree.
Bob met his partner, Mary Thompson, in a Robert Rossin sculpture class on the UW campus. They began their lives together in Casper, where Bob began teaching art before shifting his focus to architecture. He apprenticed with Henry Thirkelson before pursuing formal architectural studies and eventually passing his licensing exams. In the late ‘60s, Bob and Ken Gorder opened their own firm, Gorder | South Group. Over the next 30 years, the firm became a cornerstone of Wyoming’s architectural community, leaving a lasting legacy of schools, hospitals, homes and other notable buildings across the state of Wyoming.
Bob’s artistic talents were very apparent in his design work. He had an uncanny ability to effortlessly see design solutions and could quickly convey them through elegant sketches, making complex concepts easily understood by clients and colleagues alike. This clear and positive approach highlighted Bob’s genuine strengths and made his accomplishments memorable and direct. His knack for turning ideas into beautiful, functional designs was a hallmark of his career, and his elegant sketches remain a testament to his creative vision.
Bob was very involved in AIA Wyoming, serving on several committees over the years and was AIA Wyoming Chapter president in 1979. Locally, Bob was very active in the Casper Rotary Club for many years.
He volunteered to serve on the AIA National Documents Committee in Washington, D.C., where he helped craft a new set of AIA contract documents in the early ‘90s. Bob was always misplacing things and indicated he had lost his office key. Not long after, while going through airport security during one of his many trips to D.C., security discovered his key in the lining of his overcoat. It had worked its way through a hole in one of the pockets. Typical Bob, he thanked them for locating it and then asked if they could repair the hole in his pocket while he waited for his flight!
Bob was always concerned about how difficult it was for Wyoming students to attain their architectural education without leaving the state, and then many never returned. In 1997, he helped AIA Wyoming establish the Architectural Education Foundation of AIA Wyoming (AEF-AIAWy) to assist Wyoming students working on obtaining their architectural education at accredited schools of architecture. Bob served as a charter board member for many years.
Bob retired from the Gorder | South Group in 2000. After retiring, Bob and Mary designed and built their dream home in Story, Wyoming, surrounded by the beauty of the Big Horn Mountains he so loved. Bob enjoyed hiking the area’s scenic trails, leading bird walks (as he was an avid bird watcher), and then later served as a project manager for the Sheridan Public School District. In later years, Bob and Mary followed their grandchildren to Colorado and then Bend, Oregon, where Bob embraced the joys of being a grandfather to Kira, Liam and Noah Woodford.
Bob was an avid birdwatcher. He had an extensive life list of over 700 species and traveled the world in search of rare birds. With Mary, they enjoyed traveling to many countries, including France, Egypt, Mexico and Uruguay, where their son, Tom, was an international schoolteacher. They also went on mission trips with their church to Mexico to build homes for the homeless.
Bob was a devoted fan of sports, particularly the University of Wyoming Cowboys and the Denver Broncos. He could often be found watching games, cheering on his teams with great enthusiasm. A prolific reader, Bob was often seen with a book or a newspaper in hand, with interests as wide-ranging as World War II history to Calvin and Hobbes.
Bob will be greatly missed by all who knew him for his warmth, kindness, sense of humor, quiet strength and easy-going manner.
