I can't find an obituary for Herr Watts. For some reason I was thinking about him and started to wonder when he was born. I wonder when's he came to the US? I have to imagine he experienced Nazi Germany. That was certainly never mentioned in class.

Hey Linda,

It's amazing how few people will respond to posts.  I remember Mr. Watts, but I couldn't tell you anything about him. I didn't study German until I went to ECU, but I really enjoyed the year that I took.  Spanish was my chosen second language. For my degree I had to take another language in addition to Spanish so I took 2 (both German and French).  Needless to say, German is the most difficult of them all.  The article (der, di, dem, das) that changes depending on whether it is for the subject, direct object, etc. makes it tough in addition to those symbols over letters that change the pronunciation.  I spent a year in Valencia, Spain studying (traveled to Munich with my girlfriend) and then transferred all my credits to the U. of Oregon where I graduated. Post something else and maybe you will get a better response.  I can't understand why people can't post more. There are so many interesting and well traveled folks in our class.

Best regards,

BAK

My memory of Herr Watts was that his behavior was effective but would never be tolerated in today's classroom.  He walked around with a pointer and would come from behind people and bang it on their desk if he thought they were not paying attention.  I remember the day he threw a large German-English dictionary at a student (can't remember who, but it wasn't me!) when the student asked for the definition of a word, telling him as he threw it that he needed an introduction to a book called a dictionary.

Funny story, George.  I can almost hear Herr Watts chuckling to himself after that student's tongue lashing.  But I bet he (the student) got the message.  Herr Watts was a bit scary at times, and certainly kept you on your toes--why I opted for Latin.

Maybe I'll see you at the reunion.

George and I were in Herr Watts' 3rd year German class as juniors in 1966-67, my only year with Herr Watts. Perhaps George had him for 2nd or 4th year German. That said, I have no recollection of Herr Watts throwing any large books at anyone; I can't imagine that would've been good for the book. Hard to believe Philip Watts would be a book abuser. I do remember flying blackboard erasers and also his white stick (conductor's baton?) that made a really loud noise when he hit a desk with it. What I found unnerving about that class was the idea that I never knew what he was going to do next or what he was going to make US do next. One of his favorite quotes was "He who lies down with the dogs rises up with fleas"; one of his favorite tricks was to make us translate that into various cases, tenses, etc.---nice little pop quizzes. Prior to announced tests, he'd say something like "Tomorrow I'm going to give you a test that will make your toes curl up!" and my thought would be "Shoot me now".

Although Herr Watts may have adopted the classroom persona of a German schoolmaster, he certainly wasn't from Germany. I can't recall how the topic of his hometown came up since he wasn't someone who shared much if any personal information but he told us he was from Mooresville, NC. He then went on to say "MOORESville, a small town near Charlotte, and NOT MORRISville, that hole in the road in western Wake County". That former hole in the road is now home to 30,000+ people and slides into Durham County. 

Herr Watts apparently mellowed out over the years...my sister Betsy (BHS '78) took an elective English course with him, something like World Literature, and told me about his Dress for Success policy: on test days, girls who wore dresses/skirts and boys who wore dress shirts with ties would receive extra credit. Even though it wasn't a language class, they were required to address him as "Herr Watts". Betsy remembers him as being strict but also the best teacher she had at Broughton.

Fast forward to 1981 when my youngest sister graduated from Broughton...I saw Herr Watts at a post-graduation party and went zooming over to say Hello but mainly to report that although I hadn't been to Germany, I had been to Italy and was able to speak in German and be understood. When I was about 5 feet away from him, he whipped around and said "Cheryl Burgess! Third year German, 1967...right?" Wow! I told him I couldn't believe he remembered my name, much less KNEW my name since he always used only our last names. He said "Girlie, I always knew your names and what's more, I remember the names of ALL my kiddies." Wow again. We had a nice chat...mainly about my trip, places I'd been, things I saw, etc. I'm glad I got to see another side of Philip Watts other than what I knew from being in his classroom.

Hi Linda,

Im pretty sure Herr Watts grew up in Lillington, or "Lillington am Cape Fear" as he called it. Best I recall, he went to Austria for undergrad and/or masters degrees, met his wife, and returned to NC to begin his teaching career. I had him for French II, believe it or not. I do remember a story in the N&O when he retired and was bad sick with cancer. A group of former students had had a plaque or something made for him and there was a photo of him accepting it. They may have started a scholarship in his name as well, but I'm far from sure about that. I do remember calculating from his birth date and found that he was only in his mid-30s when I was in his class.

Ben Runkle

Ben and Linda, 

I'm not going to argue with you about Herr Watts saying he was from Lillington; I've heard others say he made the same statement when they were in his class. However, I promise you that he told our class (3rd year German, our junior year 1966-67) that he was from Mooresville--"a small town near Charlotte, not to be mistaken for Morrisville. that hole in the road in Wake County". He never mentioned Lillington nor Harnett County to us; if he did, that would've gotten my attention since I had an aunt and uncle living in Lillington (not longtime residents, uncle was sent there to open a branch of a bank) during the time I was at Broughton. Long story short...after doing some Googling, I found that Herr Watts graduated from Davidson College in 1949 and beside his photo in the yearbook, his hometown is listed as Taylorsville, certainly closer to Mooresville than to Lillington. I have no idea why he would tell people he was two entirely different towns...was he confused? FWIW...he was actually smiling in his college photo and looked like a friendly person.

You're right about the age...I too was amazed to figure that he was in his 30s in 1967; he could have easily passed for 60. The website for the Philip Watts Foundation (philipwattsfoundation.org) gives his life dates as 1928-1984; the first scholarship was awarded in 1986. Scholarships are awarded annually. Check it out; contributions are accepted. I recall seeing a photo of him near the end of his life...he had the "chemo-look"--completely bald with a bloated face. 

Cheryl Hall