LEGACIES THAT SHAPED MCCOMB

McComb's sense of mourning—representative, no doubt, of that felt across many Mississippi towns—has been especially heavy in recent days. However, I'll speak only to my hometown, a place that can't say goodbye to people like Warner Alford, Tom Walman, Bobby Darville, Charles Ray and Phil Dell'Isola without deeply feeling the weight of those losses. That list includes two of the highest profile people in the state in Alford, 87, and Walman, 82, and perhaps statewide lesser-knowns in Darville, 95, Ray, 89, and Dell'Isola, 82, people whose influence, visibility and accomplishments loomed large over Pike County for multiple decades. Darville, 95, was a businessman of renown who operated Hollis' Drive-In with his father for 13 years before joining an independent insurance firm that eventually merged with another, Southwest General, of which he was president for 35 years. McComb people still want a Hollis' hamburger. Darville was the last living member of McComb High's unscored-upon football team of 1946. Think about it. Charles Ray, 89, wasn't always a pastor but he was involved in myriad ministries for decades, and conducted many funerals. He often filled in at varied churches, most prominently at J.J. White Memorial Presbyterian in McComb. He was a founder of the renowned Camp Sunshine for children with mental and physical disabilities; and of food pantries and hospices. "Service" was the hallmark of his life. One of the best lines I've seen in any obituary lately is contained in Dell'Isola's: "His middle name should have been 'Gregarious." That was Phil, who once ran the Enterprise-Journal's advertising department. His family moved to Jackson from his native Brooklyn, N.Y., and he graduated from Jackson St. Joseph and Southern Miss, which he adored. Phil was active in McComb civic, social and business life for decades, and he worked mightily for the local cultural arts scene. He had a booming laugh and a kind place in his heart for everyone. Gregarious, yes, and always generous. Tom Walman, 82, held myriad important jobs in city, state and federal governments. He was one of our most influential state legislators ever from 1976-1992. He later served as McComb's mayor and joined Gov. Haley Barbour's staff to help rebuild the state after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He later worked with the federal disaster relief agency. The truth is, Mississippi missed out by never having Tom Walman serve as governor. He was fully capable of handling such a task, and proved it several times in his long career at all levels of public service. Nobody in his hometown would have been surprised to see him elected governor. He played on McComb High's 1962 state overall basketball champions. As a kid in 1956, I watched my father-reporter present Warner Alford with the old Big Eight Conference's "Most Outstanding Lineman" award for his superb senior season on the McComb High football team. Warner might've weighed 155 and could have been overlooked by recruiters, but the award propelled him to a full scholarship at Ole Miss, the university he later served in many posts, including athletic director for 16 years. Tom Swayze saw Warner play football and basketball at MHS, and was convinced he could play football for the Rebels. Alford eventually married Swayze's campus beauty daughter, Kay. Sports Illustrated magazine, long the nation's superior sports publication, once ran a two-page photograph of Warner and Kay on a hand-in-hand stroll across the Ole Miss campus in 1960 when the Rebels went 10-0-1 and were named national champions. It was a Mississippi moment to remember, and we do.