MAC ON SPORTS: LEON McLAIN REMEMBERED FOR HIS SUPPORT OF MacARTHUR TEAMS DURING HIS LIFE

McLain Honored—MacArthur principal Cordell Ingram, left, and Athletics Director Jason Crutcher, second from right, and basketball head coach Ron Ingram presented Leon McLain, second from left, a plaque in recognition of his 30-plus years of supporting Generals football and basketball teams with his attendance at home and away games. Leon passed away Feb. 12 and his funeral was Tuesday, Feb. 18. At his funeral Crutcher, Coach Ingram and this year’s team presented the family with a MacArthur game jersey. Submitted photo.
By J. Thomas McNamara
Giving back to those who supported you now and others before you.
That’s the message MacArthur’s boys basketball head coach Ron Ingram and the Generals team sent last Tuesday at Leon McLain’s funeral at Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Home.
With permission of Principal Cordell Ingram, Athletic Director Jason Crutcher, Coach Ingram and the Generals basketball team left school in their basketball outfits for Brintlinger’s where they presented the McLain family with a MacArthur jersey in recognition of his more than 30 years of supporting MacArthur football and basketball games, home and away.
McLain passed away Feb. 12 and his funeral was Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Crutcher reminded they honored him and the late Ray Rients two or three years ago with plaques in recognition of their decades of support.
And the message Crutcher and Ingram wanted the team to receive was you have to support those in their time of need when they have supported you with their presence in the past.
“We wanted them to see what it means to the family to receive the respects from those they supported in the past.
“We wanted them to see that they can’t take life for granted that God has a plan for us when it’s our time that we don’t know,” said Crutcher in his conversation with the Decatur Tribune.
I will have more on this developing story in a future print edition of the Decatur Tribune.