Dr. Robert Harvey Countess
Obituary
Dr. Robert H. Countess, 67, of Toney, son of the late Parks and Kathleen Countess, died Friday, March 18, 2005, at his home. He is survived by his wife Elda, children Timothy, Stephen, Keith, Sharon, Laura, and Becky, 13 grandchildren, 2 great grand-children, sister Nancy of Germantown, Tennessee, and brother Billy of Jay, Florida.
Known as Bob to most, he graduated from Huntsville High School in 1955. After three years in the Army, he began his life-long learning try studying at Bob Jones University where he received his B.A. in Religion and English; M.A. in Religion, and Ph.D. in New Testament Greek. He also received an M.L.S. in Humanities and Philosophy from Georgetown University, and studied at ‘numerous other universities. Receiving his ordination in 1965, he was the pastor of churches in New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama. He served as Chaplain at Redstone Arsenal from 1980 to 1984, served in the Alabama National Guard, and retired from the U.S. Army as Captain in 1997.
He was a college professor, lecturer, and published author. His Zest for learning and adventure took him around the world where he taught and lectured in the Netherlands, Ukraine, Australia, South Africa, and throughout Europe.
His extracurricular interests led him to help found the Prince William Elders Soccer Club in Manassas, VA, and he was instrumental `in founding the Huntsville Adult Soccer League. He was also an active member of the North Alabama Table Tennis Club, and twice represented the state of Alabama at the U.S. Senior Olympics.
He enthusiastically enjoyed and lived life to, its fullest. Among his passions were traveling, old French cars, table tennis, and soccer. He touched so many lives and was willing to help anyone in need.
The above text is the official orbituary of his family. Anything deemed socially unacceptable was left out of it in order not to upset any participants of the funeral. Hence Dr. Bob’s passion for Holocaust revisionism isn’t mentioned here at all.
It is my honor to complete this text with some vital information. When teaching History 102 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1986/87, he was the first (and so far the last) professor in the USA to use Arthur Butz’s Hoax of the Twentieth Century in his class as required reading. The publisher of this book, the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), who had to send numerous copies of the book to him, was rather surprised by Dr. Bob’s activities and invited him to their conference. Hence, on October 10, 1987, Dr. Bob told his story of getting involved into Holocaust revisionism during the Eighth IHR Conference in California. A while later, Dr. Bob was even elected to the IHR’s Board of Directors.
When Dr. Bob learned about the 1993 master thesis by Joel Hayward on revisionism (The Fate of Jews in German Hands: An Historical Enquiry into the Development and Significance of Holocaust Revisionism), he was so eager to see it published that in 1995 he founded the non-profit publishing company Theses & Dissertations Press for this purpose (T&DP). Although Hayward’s thesis never got published, T&DP subsequently turned into a major outlet of Holocaust revisionist books, foremost of the series Holocaust Handbooks under the aegis of this article’s author.
But there was much more to the story then these terse lines can tell. As a matter of fact, when I had to flee Europe in late 1999, it was Dr. Bob and his wife Elda who gave me a safe haven, a home, and who introduced me to their circle of friends. They opened a bank account in their name for me, they gave me my first cell phone, rented a PO Box for me, and so on. In short: it was due to Dr. Bob’s help that I could continue my life and my revisionist work that had been previously stranded on the other side of the Atlantic.
During those memorable years together, Dr. Bob had become something like a father to me. He also became my spirutal mentor, as I struggled with my religiosity. And last but not least, he wed my wife and me in late summer of 2004. It was only a month later that his brain tumor was discovered. I saw Dr. Bob for a final good bye around Christmas 2004. I’ve met him since twice in my dreams. I will always miss him.
I hope to see you again some day, Dr. Bob!
Bibliographic information about this document: The Revisionist 3(2) (2005), pp. 200
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