Player, Bobby

KILGORE - Services for well-known educator and tennis coach Bobby Ray 
Player, 71, of Liberty City, will be 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 30,2007, at 
First Baptist Church of Liberty City with the Rev. Don Beebe and Bruce 
Wells officiating. Burial will follow at Danville Cemetery. Services 
are under the direction of Rader Funeral Home of Kilgore.

Mr. Player passed away on May 25, 2007, while surrounded by his family, 
a Tyler hospice, after a lengthy illness.

Bobby was born January 26, 1936, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Arthur Ray 
and Eloise Player. He graduated from Sabine High School and later 
received his bachelor's and master's degrees from East Texas State 
University (now Texas A&M, Commerce). He returned to Sabine High School 
in 1967, where he continued to teach for more than 31 years. His 
industrial arts students won numerous awards and were instrumental in 
building the current Sabine High School Football Stadium. He also served 
as long-time tennis coach for the Cardinals, where several of his players 
qualified for the State Tournament.

Player was an active member of First Baptist Church of Liberty City, 
where he had served as Sunday school teacher, leader of the Royal 
Ambassadors, member of various building committees and the church's first 
bus driver. His hobbies included drawing plans for area churches, and he 
has drawn plans for numerous local churches.

Player's community involvement included the following: board member of 
the Liberty City Water Supply Corporation; board member of the Gregg 
County Farm Bureau; board member of the Texas State Industrial Arts 
Teachers Association; scoutmaster and district commissioner for the Boy 
Scouts of America; founding member and past president of the Liberty City 
Lions Club; member of the Public Integrity Committee for the Sabine Valley 
Center; and serving as the Democratic Party's precinct chairman for more 
than 20 years.

Player married Violet Dixon on November 27, 1955, in Oil City, Louisiana. 
They are the parents of three sons: former Texas Association of School 
Board Director Ray Player of Liberty City; financial consultant Steve 
Player of Dallas and Mike Player of Liberty City, a local attorney. In 
addition to his wife and sons, Player is survived by daughters-in-law, 
Lynnette and Lydia Player; grandchildren, Kelley Player and his wife, 
Crystal, Michael J. Player and his wife, Angelica, Kim Williams and her 
husband, Glen, LeErin Player, David Player, Emily Player and Cole Player; 
great-grandchildren, Hunter Player, Hagan Player, Allegra Player, Mia 
Player, McKenzie Williams and Trevor Williams; his brother and sister-in-
law, Tom and Carol Player of Portland, Oregon, his sisters and brothers-
in-law, Donnie and Milton Sullivent of Liberty City and Teresa and Floyd 
Dudley of Liberty City; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. But most 
of all, he is survived by the students he inspired and cared for during 
his 31 year teaching career.

Player was preceded in death by his mother, Eloise Player; his father, 
Arthur Ray Player; and his stepmother, Ruth Harkins Player.

Pallbearers will be Kelley Player, Michael J. Player, David Player, Art 
Dudley, Lee Dudley, Eddie Shawn and Jay Council.

Honorary pallbearers will be Luther Swan, Lonnie Fenton, Jewel Beasley, 
Coach Red Russell, John Harlan, Adrian Dozier, Joe T. Van Meter, Jimmy 
Guinn and Durwood Beach.

Visitation will take place from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, 2007, at Rader 
Funeral Home of Kilgore.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to 
Hospice of East Texas or the Ex-Students' Memorial Scholarship Fund in 
care of Sabine High School, 5425 FM 1252 West, Gladewater, Texas 75647.

Please leave online condolences at www.raderfuneralhome.com

Published in the Longview News-Journal on 5/28/2007.