Environmentalist Neal Wickham remembered by deed and song at service

The songs of praise and tribute told the story of Neal Wickham as family and friends packed St. Paul United Methodist Church on Monday morning to say goodbye to a longtime environmental activist and community leader.

Wickham died last week at 86, but this day was about his life, his family and his accomplishments, chief among them the nearly three-decade process to design, develop and construct the Pine Mountain Trail in FDR State Park north of Hamilton.

And the music echoed the theme of Wickham’s life. The original idea for the Chattahoochee River whitewater course came out of Wickham’s Outdoor World in Columbus. In a service that lasted less than an hour, they sang, “Shall We Gather at the River.”

They sang “For the Beauty of the Earth.” And they sang “Georgia.”

“He fostered hope, generated joy and celebrated the beauty of nature around him,” said the Rev. P. Shane Green.

Wickham could be persuasive and he used that power of persuasion for good, Green said.

“He would always talk you into doing something you swore you would never do and then he would get you to love it,” said Green, using the words of Wickham’s son, Malon. “And you would go do it again.”

The woods were Wickham’s church, Green said, reading the words of Wickham’s longtime friend, Col. Ralph Puckett.

“He was the brains, the muscle and the sweat that created the wonderful benefit we all enjoy today and know as the Pine Mountain Trail,” Green said. “If it were not for Neal Wickham, there would not be a Pine Mountain Trail. He was a giver.”

From 1975 to the mid-1990s, Wickham spent at least one day a week working on the development of the Pine Mountain Trail in the heavily forested FDR State Park. The primary trail runs more than 23 miles.

But it wasn’t just the trail that Wickham was remembered for Monday. He owned and operated Wickham’s Outdoor World from 1975 until he retired in 1992. Green, reading from a text Puckett wrote, said that Wickham was a friend to many U.S. Army Ranger School students, helping them get outfitted for one of the most difficult combat training courses.

“Rangers looked at him as a friend and father figure,” Green said, reading Puckett’s words.

The pastor used one story to illustrate what he was talking about.

“One Ranger student had missed his ride and had no way of getting back to post,” the story went. “He was going to be late and Neal threw him the keys to his brand new Mercedes. He didn’t know who he was or where he was going to leave it. All he knew was there was a Ranger in need and he helped. Only Neal Wickham would do something like that.”

After the service, Columbus businessman Tom Flournoy said that Wickham was a father figure to him and many others.

“There were times he would take a group of six or seven or more of us canoeing and he would be the only adult,” Flournoy said.

Before Wickham lost his battle with cancer, Flournoy had planned a celebration that was going to be held this week. He recently called Lonice Barrett, former director of the Department of Natural Resources, to get a commendation from the governor’s office. Not long after asking for the commendation, Flournoy got a call from Gov. Nathan Deal’s office saying it was ready.

Wickham was buried in a private interment at Linwood Cemetery.

He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Judith Massey Wickham, son Malon, stepchildren Laurie Wells Cole and Charles Thomas Wells, Jr., two grandchildren and five step-grandchildren.

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Environmentalist Neal Wickham remembered by deed and song at service."