Robert C . Balfour , III ... from a Long and Blessed Life words & photography by Payton Fletcher
With God in his heart and words , one Thomasville native ends his 20-year long writing career with his eleventh and final book , “ Gamey and Fishy Tales : From a Long and Blessed Life ,” about fishing , hunting and the stories and lessons he ’ s learned throughout his life .
Born in 1927 , Robert C . Balfour III said that his life was interwoven with Thomasville , having done his part in local politics during his career , which included his support during the integration movement , but his academic career truly began at the U . S . Naval Academy .
“ I ’ ve had a long career in city politics , city affairs , and the integration movement and many other things of that sort ,” Balfour said . “ I went to military school , I went to public school through the 10th grade , I went to military school for the 11th and 12th grade .”
In his autobiographical writings , Balfour said that his father , R . C . Balfour Jr ., had desired him to be prepared for World War II , which was currently raging at the time , but by the time he was 17 , the war was over and Balfour was less than satisfied with his summer spent on a naval battleship .
“ I had not done well on my cruise , on the battleships ,” he said . “ My grades were not very good , so I decided I did not belong to the Navy , so I resigned when I was 17 and joined the Naval reserve and came home and went to the University of Georgia .”
Studying political science , Balfour said that he
“ It ’ s funny how time sneaks up on us and the days get short and you wonder where the time went .”
spearheaded the movement to forming the first student government at the University of Georgia , but never got to see it get started after the successful vote , before he graduated from the university .
“ After 2 years of hard work , I established the first student government at the University of Georgia ,” Balfour said . “ I was the head of the thing , of the movement , but I left before it actually started , I graduated before it actually started .”
Coming home to Thomasville once more , Balfour said that after a less than lucrative experience with the cattle industry , he found success with the local timber industry .
“ I came home and went into the cattle business for about 3 to 4 years , and it didn ’ t prove real lucrative , so I moved over to the Balfour Lumber Company ,” he said . “ We were just a small outfit and I spent my business career at the Balfour Lumber Company for about 50 years , I was president for about 50 years . And we built it from a little , small outfit into a large , almost a hundred people . I had many wonderful years in the lumber business .”
Retiring at 70 , Balfour said that a decision was made by the family to sell the business a handful of years later , with the business now gone from the family , but never forgotten by Thomasville .
“ I retired from the lumber business when I was about 70 years and my family and I sold the lumber business about 3 or 4 years after I retired ,” he said . “ So it ’ s gone from the family , but it ’ s still a very vital , big industry in Thomasville .”
Thomasville Scene | Spring 2023 89