Off to George Walton
From 7-12-14
When George Walton Academy Board Chairman, George Hearn, came to Covington he encouraged me to come to Monroe & help build a program that would benefit the area youngsters. As I look back, I think I received more benefit than I gave. I remember telling my wife, Jan, "Let's go see if I really want to coach."
Now, realize that I am about to take a job that one of my managers has turned down. He came & told me I couldn't work in a place like that, they don't have a football field, dressing rooms, showers or other facilities. He thought I had lost my mind when I told him I was taking the job, but he didn't know I was ready for the challenge.
The first time I walked on the GWA campus an attractive young lady, Mary Huff, came up to me & said, "Coach, I hope you'll help us win!" --(all Mary, Pam B., Tammy, & others did was to go 26-2 & 24-5 in our 1st 2yrs. @ GWA). It wasn't long before I met a lot if "winners", & none were more successful than Jake & Mae Henderson. With some people, when you meet them, their outstanding reputation has preceded them. Jake was sort of a quiet guy who owned a very successful electrical contracting company which did most of the wiring on the MARTA construction project in Atlanta. Jake wasn't around school much, but we knew if Mae approved something, her husband would support it. (Mae was a woman who would make any man a success, but her husband was a success in his own right). They lived in a hilltop mansion overlooking the golf course Mae designed & built. She was also an accomplished artist & did the painting that has hung in the entrance to the Loganville Methodist Church for over 30 years. When Mr. Hearn asked Mae to serve on the GWA Board of Trustees she replied, "I don't have much time to spare, but I will if you'll conduct the meetings in a businesslike way, & not a lot of "bull"! I got to know this couple very well through their son, Keith, an aggressive sophomore on our football team. He was one of our leading tacklers as his 3-yr. avg. was over 13 tackles per game. I remember after one of our games Keith was using a knife to cut the tape off his ankle & I told him he needed to get the "tape cutters,". He laughed, but a few minutes later he had cut himself & was bleeding. He looked at me & said, "Don't worry, Coach. I'll be ready Friday!"--& he was! Everybody loved Keith---& that is the reason, in his senior year, he was elected President of the Student Council. In our first year @ the new school, all of our football games were played on the road, & Keith helped lead us to a 6-3-1 record. George Hearn & Gib Gray deserve much credit, but it was Jake & Mae Henderson who really built our football stadium & the nice practice field. Mae worked daily as she & Keith personally cared for the sod which would have made any university proud. When I presented Keith's senior letter @ our awards banquet, I said Keith had told me he was going to work until he was 30, then play the rest of his life. When Jake followed me to present an award, he said he was glad to hear that Keith had planned to work, because he didn't think Keith planned to work! Keith was good with tractors as he helped build the stadium, but one day at his home, he turned a big tractor over, & when they pulled him out, he laughed & said, "I've always lived a 'charmed' life!" A couple of weeks before his HS graduation, visiting UGA where he planned to go to school, when he was returning home a little after midnight, he was only a couple of miles from home when he went to sleep, lost control of his car, hit a big boulder, & was killed. I received a call about 6 AM, & I rushed to the Henderson estate. On a beautiful spring morning as I drove up that long driveway to their mansion, I knew that this very successful couple who "had it all", would gladly give it all up to have their young son, Keith, walk through their door again. When Keith's FB jersey, #51, was retired & the field was named in his memory, Jake said, "Many others, Mae & I helped build this stadium not only for Keith, but for all those who will one day play on this field and track!"
