AHSAA Loses Friend, Simpson Pepper
The AHSAA and its member schools lost a dear friend Thursday night when Coach Simpson Pepper died after a brief illness.
Pepper, who would have been 80 years on Aug. 10, has been the “Voice of the AHSAA” for almost four decades as public address announcer at state basketball tournaments in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa and state championship football games at Legion Field.
He rendered a dedicated to the children and schools of this state. A standout student-athlete at Ensley High School in the 1940s, he later served a teacher, coach, principal and athletic director over a career spanning almost 60 years.
Many remember him for his work as a PA announcer. His professional demeanor and fair treatment of each team in the contests he worked is still a model for aspiring public address announcers to emulate.
His obituary:
BRYAN SIMPSON PEPPER, Age 79
Coach Pepper, of Birmingham, died August 7, 2008, after a brief illness. His long life in education as a teacher, coach, administrator and principal spanned 58 years. His second career “as the public address voice” at Legion Field and Bryant-Denny Stadium spanned the last 44 years.
The Ensley High School graduate lettered in four sports—baseball, basketball, football and track—in high school. He attended Livingston University (now West Alabama) where received his Bachelor’s Degree in Education. He also lettered in football, baseball and basketball.
After graduation he coached at B.B. Comer High School in Sylacauga until he was drafted into the United States Army. After completing his military service, he returned home to coach at Hueytown, McAdory and Ensley high schools. During this span he also earned his Masters and AA degrees from Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn.
Pepper left the coaching profession in 1964 to become principal at Jones Valley Elementary School where he remained for the next 14 years. In 1978 he became principal at Jones Valley High School where he remained until his retirement in 1986.
For the past 22 years he has worked as a teacher and athletic director at Central Park Christian School.
In 1964 Pepper, at the urging of his longtime friend and athletic director Bill Harris, was hired by the Birmingham City Schools as public address announcer at all sporting events. In 1970 he became the “PA voice” for the University of Alabama football at Legion Field and Bryant-Denny Stadium. He continued that role until 1997.
His announcing career also included University of Alabama home basketball games for 14 years. He also announced Samford University games, professional football games, high school football and basketball games, state tournaments, track meets and the Alabama Lions East-West Baseball Classic and other special events that included the annual Magic City Classic between Alabama A&M and Alabama State at Legion Field. An avid St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, Pepper became the PA announcer at Rickwood Field for the Birmingham Barons for five years.
He was always the ultimate impartial professional whose voice was considered by many to be the most recognizable in Alabama.
Pepper received many honors during his PA announcing career. His most prized honor came in 1997 when the public address booth at Legion was named in his honor and a bronze plaque was erected.
Also in 1997 the Birmingham City Board of Education honored him for his faithful service. In 2002 he was presented a Distinguished Service plaque by the Monday Morning Quarterback Club. His love for East-West Baseball spanned the last 64 years. He played in the first classic in 1944 and announced most of the games since 1970.
In 2003 he was inducted into the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Service selection for his contributions to the East-West Classic.
Pepper was preceded in death by his parents, Dewey B. and Mary Kate Pepper. He is survived by cousins Charlotte Tate Jackson of Birmingham, Judy Harris Cooper (Harry) of Conyers, Ga., Sam E. Simpson (Ginger) of Lake Alfred, Fla., Fred Morgan Simpson (Kitty) of Montgomery, Hugh Lee Simpson (Anne) of Banner Elk, N.C., Mary Eleanor Pepper Jones (Buddy) of Millerville, Ala., L.T. Pepper (Marie) of Titus, Ala., James L. Saxon and Doris Saxon of Columbia, Mo.
Services will be held at Central Park Baptist Church, 1900 43rd Street West, in Birmingham, Ala. Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, at 2:30 p.m. Visitation will be held from 1 to 2:15 p.m. at the church parlor prior to the service. Burial will be at Elmwood Cemetery under the direction of Ridout’s at Elmwood.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Coach Bryan Simpson Pepper scholarship fund for deserving students at Central Park Christian School