Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 20, 1995 TAG: 9505220049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Dick Kepley became suspicious when his wife, Gail, said Sonny Smith and his wife would be coming to town Friday night and that they would be meeting at the Holiday Inn for dinner.
``That just didn't sound right,'' said Kepley, more familiar with the Holiday Inn-Airport as a banquet facility.
Nevertheless, Kepley appeared touched by the more than 150 well-wishers who were on hand to honor Kepley's retirement from the Roanoke City school system.
``I didn't want a retirement party,'' said Kepley, most recently the guidance coordinator at Patrick Henry High School. ``People usually say things that aren't true and that's what happened tonight.''
Many of the testimonials dealt with Kepley's coaching career. He retired after the 1982-83 season, he said Friday night, because he felt it was assistant Woody Deans' turn to run the program.
Smith, the head coach at VCU, joined a group of coaches that included University of North Carolina assistant Bill Guthridge, Deans and past rivals Husky Hall and Mel Cartwright from Martinsville, Paul Hatcher from Robert E. Lee-Staunton, Charlie Van Lear from William Fleming and Eddie Burke from Addison.
Kepley played at North Carolina and Guthridge told a story about the time Tar Heels' coach Frank McGuire and assistant Dean Smith were passed on the highway by a speeding Kepley in a white Chevrolet Impala. Kepley was called into McGuire's office the next day.
``Dean [Smith] is 40 games shy of becoming the winningest coach in college history and he would have achieved it now without Dick,'' Guthridge said. ``Coach McGuire intended to coach only one more, but Dean said he wasn't moving up till Kepley was gone.''
On a serious note, Sonny Smith said he was headed to William and Mary for his first coaching job when Kepley wrote him a check to cover travel expenses.
``I asked my wife [Jan] tonight and I'm not sure we ever paid him back,'' Smith said. ``I've never seen a coach who fought so hard to get his players college scholarships and then kept up with them once they got there.''
The speakers included Kepley's sons Drew, Chuck and Chris. Drew and Chuck played for their father at Patrick Henry and Chris was a football player for the Patriots.
A delegation of ex-players included Mike Franklin, Ron Marsh, Jerry Spangler and Gary Ayers from the Jefferson High team that won the state championship in 1970.
Kepley moved to Patrick Henry after Jefferson closed in 1974 and completed a career that included 10 district championships. He had a 349-132 record in a 22-year career that started in 1961 in Wytheville.
by CNB