The
ground shook on Feb. 1, and a gymnasium-size hole appeared in Wayne County’s
world of sports. Word spread quickly
that Don Miller had died. Our community
has a legacy of producing gifted athletes, but few have been as multitalented
as the four-sport star from Odum. If
Don’s tiny high school had dressed out a football team, no doubt the
competitive lefty would have quarterbacked the Blue Jays. Don could handle a ball, and his trophy shelf
was testimony to that. He was inducted
into four different sports halls of fame.
More
than a half-century ago, I met Don in his other world—the one in which he wore
a starched shirt and a silk necktie. As
a teenage boy in Jesup, along with thousands of others, I considered S&R
Men’s Shop a mecca of style and sports talk.
It was a weekly stop—a place to see and be seen. Athletes swarmed the Cherry Street
establishment, knowing Jimmy Sullivan and Don Miller would pour on commentary and praise from your last game.
Fresh
out of Stetson University, Don came to S&R.
He didn’t leave until he closed the doors, retiring to grandpa duties
and the golf course. From the beginning,
it was a perfect fit. With Jimmy
Sullivan, also a notable athlete, as his mentor, Don adopted the same unwavering
commitment of supporting our sports programs.
As you tried on a pair of shoes
or slacks, both men were masters at weaving sports into the conversation. You
always felt better after each visit.
They set the gold standard for customer service. You were proud to carry home one of their
signature black shopping bags, emblazed in gold: S&R.
It
was there—191 W. Cherry St.—where I got to know Don in the early 1960s, first
as a customer and later as a part-time employee. My mother joked, “You would have paid Mr.
Sullivan to work there.” And I did,
wearing my paychecks in the form of Gant shirts, Canterbury belts and Gold Cup
socks. That trend continued through high
school and college. For decades—from
neck to toes—every piece of my attire was from what Don called “the store.” Don
was more than my haberdasher. He was my
friend.
Don was a groomsman in our wedding. He hauled 10 tuxedos to the Hopeful Baptist
Church on Aug. 23, 1969. As Southwest
Georgia farmers were creating clouds of dust with their peanut pickers, my
buddies and I were poking black pearl studs in our stiff tux shirts. Four years
later, I wore another S&R-rented tuxedo as a groomsman in his wedding to
Jackie Hutcheson at Norwich Street Church of God in Brunswick.
After
we moved to Athens, my wife always chuckled when a United Parcel Service
package arrived from S&R. “Don’t
they sell clothes up here?” she’d tease.
“Yep,” I’d said. “But Don and
Herschel (Daniel) know my sizes and
what I like. It’s just easier this
way.” During Don’s memorial service,
those who had bought clothes from Don were asked to stand. Hundreds stood on the carpeted sanctuary
floor of Unity Church of God. I was
among them, wearing the last suit Don had sold to me.
Just
as Don was a pillar in his community, he gave irreplaceable support to his
church. Unity’s gymnasium is named for Don
and Jackie Miller. The sports whiz from Odum made a positive difference
everywhere he walked during his 79 years.
That’s why his death shook us so.
None
of us was ready to give up our friend, but we all know where Don Miller was
headed—Heaven’s Sports Hall of Fame.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
