Colleagues mourn longtime Carmel math teacher

A longtime math teacher, and department chairman at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, has died.

Robert "Doc" Watson was known as an "old school" math teacher, whose insistence on students documenting their work in solving problems, made him memorable both with his young mathematicians and his colleagues. He passed away on Friday, at the age of 71.

His career spanned more than 30 years at the high school.

Mr. Watson first taught math at St. Mary School in Buffalo Grove from the late 1960s through 1974, where he was instrumental in firming up its math curriculum.

That same year, Mr. Watson moved to Carmel, teaching for 15 years in the former Carmel High School for Boys. When it merged in 1989 with its counterpart, Carmel High School for Girls, Mr. Watson became the new math department head.

"He was old school and somewhat gruff, but he had a heart of gold," says his colleague, Jane Conarchy. "He loved his students."

Laura Middaugh, a new math teacher in the department at the time, came to appreciate his years of experience in the classroom, and overall support.

"He truly loved his subject matter and loved to find problems with twists in them to make people think," says Middaugh, how teaching math at McHenry County College. "He had a fascinating mind and had amazing insights to quantitative issues both in and out of the classroom."

Students, however, were wary of him at first.

"He was very strict and somewhat stern, but once you got to know him, you realized he was there for you," says one of his former students, Kevin Kristan. "He wanted you to learn."

Another former student, Damontae January of Waukegan, still remembers the 23-step proof Mr. Watson made his students learn.

Mr. Watson taught everything from algebra and geometry to upper levels of calculus, before he was head of the math department for eight years. He ultimately returned to his true love of teaching, before retiring five years ago.

A 1998 Carmel graduate, Stephanie Kane, regularly kept in touch with her former teacher, in high school and college. She vividly remembers his classroom, filled with collages of his former students.

"His passion for learning, his commitment to mentoring young people, and his appreciation for life and laughter," Kane says, "motivate me to this day."

Mr. Watson is survived by one brother, Lawrence, of Chicago.

Visitation will take place 4-8 p.m. Thursday at Kristan Funeral Home, 219 W. Maple Ave. in Mundelein, before a 11 a.m. funeral Mass at St. Gilbert's Catholic Church, 301 E. Belvidere Road in Grayslake.