News obit: George Nordmann, who helped fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph, then changed his mind

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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There’s an obituary today for George Nordmann, who made national news back in 1998 because of his connection to infamous Olympic bomber Eric Robert Rudolph.

First, the notice:

Nantahala Community – George Otto Nordmann, 81, passed away Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008 at his home. A Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at the Townson-Rose Chapel in Andrews. Visitation 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29, 2008.

So here’s what happened. Back in 1998, Nordmann was running Better Way Health Food Store in Andrews when he Rudolph approached him. Rudolph had known Nordmann for years and he was looking for help; Rudolph was dodging one of the biggest manhunts in history.

From a CNN story recapping the Rudolph case:

Although there have been a number of alleged sightings of Rudolph, the last credible one was in July 1998, when Rudolph went to the home of an Andrews, North Carolina, health food store owner to ask for food and supplies, Swecker said.

The store owner, George Nordmann, at first agreed to help Rudolph, then changed his mind. Nordmann later returned home to find his truck and more than 75 pounds of food and supplies missing. There were five $100 bills on the table.

There’s better detail from this Time story:

Nordmann, who had known Rudolph from years ago, told authorities that the suspect’s appearance has changed considerably. Sporting a beard and a ponytail and dressed in a camouflage outfit and gloves, Rudolph reportedly told Nordmann, “Look at me. I look like a hippie.” He also told Nordmann that he had lost weight, pulling on his baggy trousers to demonstrate how he’d lost about six inches off his waistline. “Being on the run like this, I’m starving to death,” he reportedly said, telling Nordmann he had been surviving on green beans and oatmeal.

During that meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes on Tuesday, July 7, Nordmann told police that Rudolph also tried to convince him he was innocent. The next day Nordmann went to his store and stayed the night there because he was worried about the encounter with Rudolph and about returning home. While he was gone, police believe Rudolph returned to Nordmann’s house either late that night or Thursday and took 50 to 75 lbs. of food, including canned green beans, beets, corn, tuna fish, raisins and a large bag of wheat bran. He carried it away in Nordmann’s 1977 Nissan pickup truck, which the store owner discovered missing when he returned home on Thursday. Police later found the truck at a nearby campground with a handwritten note from Rudolph inside. The contents of the note have not been released. At home, Nordmann found five $100 bills, presumably left by Rudolph as payment for the food.

The Rudolph incident was a brief encounter in Nordmann’s full life. Here’s more of his obituary:

George worked hard all his life, but his work did not entirely define who he was. To finance his college years, he spent some years in the US Navy. He started with an interest in engineering, but switched his college major to horticulture to help with the family business, Ben J. Nordmann, Inc. One of his achievements while involved in the family business was to be awarded young farmer of the year in the late 1950’s. He is also credited with developing the first seedless kumquat named in his honor the Nordmann seedless. He later worked for Chase and Company, a horticulture related business. He moved his growing family to Washington State and then to North Carolina, where he lived from 1973 to 2008. During his first years in NC, he became very interested in organic gardening, holistic foods and remedies and living off the land. He bought 10 acres with a home in Nantahala, NC. He was the owner and the operator of the Better Way Health Food Store in Andrews, NC and was proprietor until he retired at the age of 78. He touched many people in the community who came to him for advice regarding health and nutrition. He had a very caring heart and was always ready to offer a helping hand. He had an incredible memory and a great curiosity to learn new things. He spent his last years living at home, taking care of his gardens, chickens, keeping his wood pile stocked and his dog, Duke. He loved his family and grandchildren. George was a devout Catholic and had a deep faith and a constant awareness of the presence of God. He had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. Above all things, he was a man of prayer. He has taken a part of each of our hearts with him.