| |
By Jim Steele
steele@mckenziebanner.com |
| |
Former McKenzie Mayor and Carroll County Sheriff H.B.
"Swat" Scarbrough died last Wednesday afternoon after a
short illness. He was 89.Scarbrough served as the city's chief executive for 12
years, first from 1968-1970, then again 1972-1982. Scarbrough was the county's top law enforcement officer
from 1958 to 1964. In between, he was a highly
successful local merchant, having run City Market and a
clothing store in downtown McKenzie. "I've known him for several years. I went to school with
his daughter and we used to trade in his grocery store
and clothing store," said McKenzie Mayor Walter
Winchester. "When I decided to campaign for mayor, he
was impressed with my credentials and sort of adopted
me. We would go to lunch occasionally and I'd ask for
his advice on things since he'd been mayor before. I'm
very sad by his passing." Former McKenzie Special School District Superintendent
Joe Williams had a lifelong admiration for Scarbrough. "My greatest memory was when I was a 4-or-5-year-old
boy," Williams said. "He used to let me sit in his lap
while he rode me to the drug store and he'd buy me an
ice cream cone." Scarbrough got the nickname "Swat" for his baseball
prowess.
"When we were boys and playing ball, he used to wear a
hat that said, 'King Swat' on it," said friend and
teammate Kermit Holland. "We started calling him that
and it sort of stuck all the years."
He was known for his tape-measure home runs while
playing at McKenzie High School and Bethel College. "He was fantastic," Williams said. "Back then, we didn't
imagine we were Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig (when playing
ball in the back yard); we had Swat." Scarbrough was a three-sport athlete for the Bethel
College Corporals, as they were known then. Some regard
him as the best athlete ever to play at BC. He was best
known for his football and baseball proficiency. He was
a versatile cog in the single wing offense that BC's
football team ran in the day. He also was a top-notch
defensive player. "He played quarterback on the football team at high
school and at Bethel," said Holland. "He was a good
passer. I even caught a couple of his passes. He was a
good baseball and football player and we had some great
experiences." Holland related a story about Scarbrough running to the
huddle to call a field goal during a game against a
Mississippi school. The kick would have been 57 yards. A
big Bethel tackle at the time, a guy named Pete Hilliard
thought he could convert the kick attempt. "Swat called the play and Pete said he wanted to try
it," Holland said. "He kicked that thing and it was 57
yards. It won the game for us. Everybody liked seeing
Swat play." Scarbrough was inducted into the Bethel College Hall of
Fame in 1999 along with former basketball player John
Kemper and former BC coach Dr. Lionel Sinn. After college, he attempted a career in Major League
Baseball and went to spring training with the St. Louis
Cardinals. Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, who had the
highest single-season batting average in MLB history at
.427, was the Redbirds' manager. Scarbrough impressed
the legendary Hornsby with his hitting, throwing and
fielding. "Swat, you can hit, field and throw, but you
can't run," Hornsby said. "If you hit them far enough, you don't have to run,"
Scarbrough shot back, dripping with his southern
gentility. Longtime friend Joe McClure, in a letter of endorsement
for Bethel's hall of fame, said, "I can honestly say
that he was the best college athlete I've ever known." After his attempt at baseball, Scarbrough entered the
U.S. Army where he served in Hawaii during World War II.
He took a boat from San Francisco to Honolulu and Pearl
Harbor just after the Japanese sneak attack. "I remember pulling into the harbor and seeing those big
boats just laying over in the water on their side,"
Scarbrough said of his initial impression of the
carnage. "You knew we were in a war, then." Scarbrough took his first plane ride during WW II, a
seaplane, and he says that the pilot and crew were
always vigilant against Japanese fighter aircraft in the
area. Many of those plane rides were to Pacific Islands
to play baseball for the military. He competed with and
against top-notch ball players and even a big leaguer or
two through his tour. He was a proud member of the VFW
following service to his country. After the war, he returned to McKenzie to be with his
wife Margaret, who passed in 1997 after a long battle
with cancer. They had two children, Emily and Hugh. He
built up two businesses, S.P. Scarbrough and Son
clothing store and City Market, and entered the
political arena, first as sheriff, then as mayor. During
his mayoral tenure, McKenzie procured a hospital, landed
Republic Builders, modernized the water department and
oversaw the development and completion of perhaps one of
the most impressive city parks in the state. "He gave a great deal of his life in service to the
community and was an outstanding mayor," said Virginia
Claire Edwards, a longtime family friend. "He was a
friend to his friends and never stopped caring about the
town of McKenzie." Edwards said she worked on many civic committees with
Scarbrough. "My friendship with Swat and Margaret was special to me
and working with him was very rewarding," Edwards said.
"I saw the good things he did for the community. He also
had 70-plus years of service to the (First United
Methodist) church." J.R. "Bobby" McDonald was a friend who was once a rival,
then friend again. "I ran against him for mayor and the roof almost came
off," said McDonald. "Swat was not an average man. There
are so many things I remember about him; he was a very
honest person and accomplished so many things." McDonald said the Scarbrough kept track of his personal
phone calls from city hall and paid them and encouraged
his staff to do the same. "He always said for city
workers to buy what they need, not what they don't
need." McDonald served him as a committee member and a
councilman.
"McKenzie is a better place because of his
contributions," McDonald said. "It was a pleasure to
work with him on the council." Catherine Crawford said Scarbrough ran the city and ran
it well.
"He was a good leader and had good morals and he was a
good friend on top of that," she said. "He tried to do
things very economically and he was always there for the
public." Scarbrough was never one to back away from controversy;
he embraced it. He was once quoted as saying, "As long
as I think I'm right, it doesn't matter what anybody
else thinks," which typified the spirit that was with
him until the end. "His contributions to the city should be recognized an
appreciated," said Williams. Holland agreed. "He had quite a life. He enjoyed people and we enjoyed
being with Swat," he said. "He was successful at
everything he did and you hate to give up people like
that." Scarbrough leaves a son, Hugh of Huntingdon, two
grandchildren, Brad and Mary Margaret. He was preceded
in death by his wife Margaret and daughter Emily
Crandall. The family requests that memorials be made to Bethel
College. |
