Thought y’all would like to know this little story. Sure wish I had a video. Would gain some nice leverage on a few fellows at church.
Saturday morning we remembered Betty Kearns at our church (St. Mark Methodist) in Tuscaloosa. At the end of the service her son Tom reminded us (at least 100 in attendance) that Betty was an avid Razorback fan, and he asked a favor of all those Bama fans, with a sprinkling of Auburn fans, sitting in the Sanctuary. Would we please call those Hogs one last time as a tribute to Betty?
Donning her red Hog Hat, he coached us thru one call, and then we all stood and ENTHUSIASTICALLY Called Those Hogs!!! Bama fans calling the Hogs! It was beautiful! Betty was smiling and cheering from above.
Some of you oldest guys and gals on the board may have known Betty. I was told she and Walter were popular on campus in their day. Betty Ann Rogers Kearns, #970 in Chi Omega (1948), University of Arkansas, married Walter Louis Kearns (basketball scholarship) 1 Nov 1952. She was an army brat, and at one point in her life her dad was stationed at Pine Bluff Arsenal while they lived in Pine Bluff. She has lived in Fayetteville also, post college, I think.
(sons Tom and John have asked if I would appreciate all Betty’s Razorback gear after the grandchildren pick thru it. So I may get that hog hat. ha!)
Thanks for sharing. Brought a tear to my eye, as that was when my folks were on campus (they met there after Dad enrolled at the U of A in 1946 after returning from WWII). Even after all these years (Mom passed in 2004, Dad in 2011) my first impulse while reading your post was to think “I need to ask Mom if she knew this lady”. I’m sure all of you who have lost one or both of your parents can relate to that feeling - still thinking about talking to them or wanting to ask them a question only to realize they’re not here to ask any more.
Wiz that’s very true. I lost my dad when I was a boy. My mother in 2007 , all the time I catch myself thinking I will call mom.
And tell her what her grandchildren and now great grandchildren just did. Then it hits she’s in heaven.
We’ve lived in Tennessee for the past 21 years. Orange is the most annoying color to me. I will wear nothing with orange in it (because of TN and TX). Two dear friends had a 7 year old diagnosed with a brain tumor a few years ago. It was a horrid 3 year fight that Eli lost. He was a big TN fan as is his entire family. The family asked that we wear colorful shirts at his funeral because Eli loved bright colors. I purchased a bright orange TN shirt and wore it. Eli’s dad gave me a big ole hug and said that was one thing he thought he’d never see. I told him he’ll never see it again so he took my picture as proof.
While our passion for the Hogs is deep and wide things like this shows that there are many more things more important than college sports.
