My entire childhood I heard about how smart and well-spoken my dad was. All of his teachers told me how much they loved him. I used to hear about how fast my dad was in high school and how he was a good cornerback but not big enough to play in college. Milford Evans said "I played football with your daddy. He hit me harder than anyone ever did." Even at times when we didn't have tickets, somehow we got into every home Carolina football game I asked to go to. When we'd go to his old neighborhood, everyone would call me "Little Jack" because his nickname was "Apple Jack." I remember how, throughout elementary and middle schools, I would get in trouble for talking in class and, when I got home, he could only get so mad at me because we all know who I got the gift of gab from. At the end of the day, my dad was my role model growing up.
More important than the memories that I have with my father is the impact that he has had not only on my family or a couple of my friends or my home town but on this nation and world. Over the past couple of days, I have gotten messages from people in Chicago, California, New York, New Orleans and so many other places speaking on how my father has touched their lives. Whether it was getting an athlete a workout with a professional team, taking a kid to the movies, or just comforting a mother while her son was in jail, my father was a giving person. He talked so much because he loved people. He loved knowing about people. When I was younger, I remember wondering, "Who cares?" sometimes because I didn't understand why he had such a genuine concern for strangers, but then I look at the way I chat with waiters and waitresses or the mail man at my apartment and I see that I am the exact same way... And for that I am thankful. You don't meet too many genuine people these days. It always seems that someone wants something from you. My dad wanted something for you. He just wanted everyone to be happy. Sometimes, he wanted it so badly that he put his own happiness to the side to help strangers but so did Jesus.
This past Tuesday morning, my brother Devin Agee called me and said "Your father never made me feel like ‘just the friend.’ He always made me feel like his son." Today, I wanted to have my 6 line brothers from my fraternity stand here beside me. And then I thought more and I wanted my closest high school friends to stand beside me. Then I kept thinking, back and back and back to all my friends over the years who my father loved like his own children and I wanted each of them to stand up here with me. But then I realized there would be no one under 25 in the pews. My dad saw potential in every young person he met and he wanted to help that young person develop that potential into character and success. And, as I look out into this overwhelming crowd today, I see some of my father in each of you because I see the character that he helped all of us develop. In this sanctuary, you have everyone from politicians to former inmates to sanitation workers to teachers to college students. And, in all that, all I really see are other children of God, just like my dad did. So, if you really want to remember my father the way he would want to be remembered, politicians, lawyers, doctors, take some time and mentor a young person who needs it. Give that young person who doesn’t deserve it the benefit of the doubt. And young people read a book. Don't have one to read? My father left me a huge library and I don't have anywhere to put it so feel free to ask me for one. But develop your character, give back, and read. That is the best way to remember Deryle, Sr..
I will leave you all with one quote from an old friend of my father's, Dr. Cameron Seay. "Deryle is like the boy scouts. Everybody loves Deryle."
Litera scripta manet. - Unknown
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