Wanda Robertson, Piney Flats, TN, age 76, passed away peacefully May 8, 2019 at NHC in Johnson City. She was born August 30, 1942 in Mitchell County, NC to Clemmie and Minnie Atlas Cox. She was preceded in death by her parents, her granddaughter Jessica Robertson and her ex-husband Johnny Robertson.
She was very generous and left a lot of stuff to us that we have no idea what do with. She swore it all would become rare and valuable one day soon. She was well known for her lack of patience, her brutal honesty and giving her opinion whether you asked for it or not.
Mom gave us tough love, but she was genuine and very loyal to a fault. She had a very tender heart, but only a select few witnessed & benefited from it. She cussed and didn’t apologize for it and she enjoyed shocking you with some of her colorful language. She also liked using her children as her personal servants when she needed a drink, a snack, the phone answered or the tv channel changed.
She was an avid reader and she loved working crossword puzzles while sitting on her porch and drinking from her juice box.
Mom was very protective of all those she loved, she loved hard. She was always there for us when we needed her advice and guidance and only said “I told you so” a few times. She taught us to be independent and confident. That was the most important lesson we learned from her.
After she graduated from Mary Hughes High School she was recruited to the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Washington D.C. This is where she met our dad. Mom and Dad moved to Piney Flats with their first born and only son Scott. After settling in Piney Flats, mom gave birth to Anita and Lisa.
Mom attended and graduated from Texas A&M University’s polygraph program in 1979 and became the first female licensed polygraph examiner in TN and the first female polygraph examiner to start their own business in the United States. She also served as the first President for the Tennessee Board of Polygraph Examiners. She was sought after by several federal, state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the United States to conduct polygraph examinations during criminal investigations. It was a joy being interrogated by her when she knew something was up with one of us. Mom closed her office in 1993 and began a new career as a criminal investigator with the Washington County, TN Sheriff’s Office. She retired in 2002 as a sergeant inside the detention centre and sold her house and moved to Oneida TN to be close to and help Lisa and Leif take care of their boys. She absolutely loved living in her log house on a small lake in Oneida and watching the wildlife.
She was extremely proud of her family – Scott & Holly Robertson of Mascoutah, Illinois, Anita & Matthew Gross of Bluff City, TN. And Lisa & Leif Jeffers of Oneida, TN. Her four grandsons, James Robertson, Jake, Luke, and John Jeffers. Her close and best friend Kathy Davis of Johnson City TN. Her brother Roger Wayne Cox of FL and sister Gail Cox Roberts of NC.
Our family is extremely Blessed and thankful for her friend and caregiver Dorothy Warren. She loved you Dorothy.
We wish to thank all those who cared and loved her at NHC in Johnson City. We know she could be difficult at times, but she loved each of you, especially, Nicole, who spoiled her. Thanks so much for loving her and caring for her like you did.
We will have a private Celebration of Life for Mom. She wished for her ashes to be scattered in the mountains of NC. Mom loved to have picnics while in the mountains, so we will have fried chicken, potato salad and sweet tea while celebrating her and her life and thanking God she was our mother.
Trinity Memorial Centers Funeral Home (423-723-8177) is honored to serve the Robertson family.
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