Richard Mac Smith (Coach) died on March 8, 2022 at DCH with his daughter, Laura, at his side. The funeral will be at Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel on Friday, March 11, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. with Dr. Ken Cheek presiding and Rev. Billy Gray presenting the eulogy. Visitation is one hour prior to the service.
Richard is preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Treva; sister, Doris Jean; parents, Fred and Norma, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. He is survived by his only daughter, Laura Smith.
Richard Mac Smith was born and raised in the small town of Jemison, AL. He was the son of Norma and Fred Smith and the younger brother of Doris Jean.
Growing up during the Great Depression in rural Alabama presented a variety of problems but the young Richard Mac was unaware of the problems of the world. As a young child "Mac " was busy creating problems of his own. He was a mischievous child who managed to disappear on more than one occasion. When he was three years old, he decided to visit has grandfather, "Pappa Attaway." The Highway Patrol caught him riding his tricycle down Highway 31 some two miles from his home. Another time, he used his singing voice to get into a visiting carnival show. Tragedy hit the Smith family when Mac was around nine years old. His older sister, Doris Jean, was killed in a car accident. In high school, Mac was the quarterback on Jemison High School's first football team. He also lettered in basketball and baseball. His senior year he also drove the firetruck for the volunteer fire department and was deputized for Saturday night emergency service alongside Jemison's only police officer. The Chicago White Socks offered him a spot on their minor league team when he was still in school. He opted instead to accept a Southwest Mississippi Junior College scholarship to play football for them. After a year of college, he decided to join the Navy. In the Navy, he scored high on some test and was given top security clearance. He spent his time decoding highly classified communications.
When Mac returned from his time in the Navy, he returned to Southwest. He came home at Christmas, went for a barbeque, and met the love of his life. Three months later he proposed to the lovely Treva Alverson. They eloped and remained inseparable for the next sixty-four years. In 1952, they had their first and only child, Laura. They moved to Tampa, Florida for a year before deciding to return to Alabama. Mac finished his degree at the University of Alabama. He held jobs at Gorgas, Coaling and Brookwood before taking a position at Tuscaloosa County High School where he would coach the defense for the next 12 years. During that time he turned down three head coaching offers, two at other schools and one offer to coach at the university. He turned down all of them because he loved what he was doing and he did not want to make changes. When Mac moved to Tuscaloosa, his name somehow changed from Mac to Richard and would remain so until after his retirement when everyone just started calling him Coach. He loved all of his students over the years, but he loved most the football players that crossed his path. He had framed team photos of all the players he had ever coached displayed in his home. Danny Long was chosen as a pallbearer to represent all of his former football players.
Coach Richard Mac Smith was a devoted husband, a loving father, an inspiration to some, a friend to many. He was fun loving and easy going (yes guys he really was easy going). He could make people laugh and there was nothing more that he loved than to be laughing himself. That sense of humor and his profound faith in God helped him survive three heart attacks, two open heart operations, nineteen days in ICU with COVID-19 and other smaller things. But his end stage congestive heart failure causing pneumonia was more than he could combat at the age of 92. While doing this last nine day stay in the hospital, I heard him on more than one occasion saying to God that he was old and tired and sick and he just wanted to come home. God answered those prayers on March 8, 2022. He is happy now that he has been reunited with God and with his beloved wife, Treva. But here on Earth, he sure is missed.
Pallbearers are Ken Swindle, Gary Alverson, John Mizzele, Tommy Squires, Danny Long, Morton Smith, and Donny Ray Hubbard. Honorary pallbearers are Don Alverson, Ryan Alverson, Dr. David Call, Dr. William Hill, Dr. Hinton and staff, the entire 6th floor South Nursing and PCA staff.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the American Heart Association or Samaritans Purse/ Ukraine.
