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High-school football coaches, fans mourning death of Barber
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Published: October 8, 2008
It would be tough to find a high-school football coach in North Carolina, and maybe even South Carolina, who didn't know Tollie Barber.
Barber, a native of Mount Airy and rabid high-school football fan, died last week at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center after an extended stay. He was 67.
"Tollie was a unique individual," Coach B.W. Holt of Rocky Mount said. "He never knew a stranger, and he loved to talk. And at times, he liked to be controversial. He was going to speak his mind. He was a great friend of high-school athletics, a great friend of football. A very special person to me and most football coaches in the state and South Carolina."
Through the business he ran with his wife, Pat, CampusColors, and the newsletter he once published, The Coaches Corner, Barber immersed himself in high-school athletics, and he had a particular fondness for football.
In recent years, as he struggled with diabetes, Barber spent more time closer to home and frequented games and practices at Mount Tabor. He knew all kinds of details, humorous stories and dirty secrets about football and coaches, and he didn't mind sharing them with anyone in earshot.
"He really enjoyed not only the game but all aspects of it, the practices, the coaches and he loved being a part of it," said Bob Sapp, a former head coach and now an assistant at Mount Tabor. "I always enjoyed having him around because I thought he was funny.... He had a great big football family."
Holt, a former coach at Starmount, said that Barber was a frequent visitor to Boonville in the 1990s.
"We did the Wednesday night supper there forever, and he became a fixture of it," Holt said. "He was going to West Forsyth a lot, and then with Sapp. He would go to that game, leave at the half and then go to our ballgame.
"He was a diabetic, and he wasn't going well for quite awhile, but he had an unreal willpower to live, and he fought it. A totally unique individual, and he gave me the devil once in a while. But I totally enjoyed his friendship and will truly miss him."
One of Barber's sons, Jamie, played football at West Forsyth for Russell Stone and later walked on at Indiana. Stone said that although Jamie barely played in college, Tollie would attend a high-school game in this area on Friday, then hop in his Cadillac and drive to Bloomington, Ind., for a Saturday game.
"He would do that about six times a year to watch his son stand on the sidelines and hope he would get in, and that shows you what kind of father he was," said Stone, now the coach at Fayetteville Byrd. "Not many people would do that knowing there was little chance his son would play.
"He was the absolute best at promoting coaches and players. He was a really close friend and great for kids. He was really articulate and was a really smart man who underplayed that to the point where people believed him. He really liked to fight for the underdog and fight for the underprivileged."
Pat Barber could not be reached yesterday, but Holt, Stone and Sapp said that there will be a small memorial for Barber later this month, probably "a cookout," according to Holt.
The Barber family has asked that any contributions be made to The Winston-Salem Foundation, Tollie Barber Memorial Fund to benefit local students. The address is 806 West Fifth St., Winston-Salem, N.C., 27104.
■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
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