Harry W. "Red" Caughron

Harry "Red" W. Caughron

Harry "Red" W. Caughron, 88, of Woodberry Forest, died Friday, May 28, 2010, at the Dogwood Village Senior Living.

He was born on January 7, 1922, in Sevierville, Tennessee, to the late Lester and Myrtle Kerr Caughron.

"Virtually the epitome of everything noble one could ask in a tackle," and "the very best of the principles that should imbue sport" so say admirers of Harry "Red" W. Caughron, when describing the All Conference tackle for the College of William & Mary in the late 1940's and longtime head football coach and athletic director at Woodberry Forest School in Madison County. In recognition of many years of athletic excellence, Coach Caughron was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in April, 2009.

A native of Sevierville, Tennessee, Caughron played freshman football at William & Mary before joining the United States Army in 1943. He served with the 78th Infantry Division, 2nd Battalion, and the 84th Infantry Division. After the war, he returned to William & Mary, where he co-captained the squad that defeated Oklahoma State in the 1948 Delta Bowl, and completed both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Caughron became head football coach at James Wood High School in Winchester, Virginia, in 1950. He later coached at George Washington High School and Hammond High School in Alexandria before joining Woodberry Forest in 1960. He became athletic director in 1961, and founded the Woodberry Forest Sports Camp with his wife, Cathy, in 1967. Caughron retired in 1992.

Over 31 seasons as Woodberry's head coach, Caughron compiled a record of 217 wins, 56 losses, and seven ties, one of the best among Virginia high school coaches. His teams, eight of which were undefeated, earned 15 conference championships. He was an eight time Virginia Prep League Coach of the Year.

Asked to describe Coach Caughron, his former players do not dwell on his winning record. Instead, they talk about what he meant to them as a coach, a mentor, and a man. "I marvel," writes a player from the 1960's, "at how such a physically powerful man could, at the same time, be equally good, even gentle and empathic." "Often I found him watching me, in the halls and on the practice fields," writes another former player, "and I always felt that his attention gave me special powers. I knew that if Coach Caughron valued me so highly that he was interested in my success, then I really must have had something special to offer." A former player who went on to play safety for the Virginia Cavaliers in the 1980's says, "No one other than my parents has made as big of an impact on my life as Red Caughron."

Caughron was widely recognized as a modest man who, while committed to winning, was even more invested in developing young men of sterling character, who played by the rules and exhibited good sportsmanship. One of his former players, who quarterbacked for Virginia in the 1970's, notes that Coach Caughron did not tell any of his colleagues at Woodberry when he was about to be inducted into William & Mary Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984, he just took the day off and drove to Williamsburg to accept the award.

Thanks to the efforts of many Woodberry alumni, parents, and friends, the school has been able to honor Red and Cathy Caughron. In 1992, Woodberry established an endowment in their honor to support and enhance its athletic program. The school is currently raising funds to name its athletic facilities for Coach and his wife.

Mr. Caughron is survived by his wife, Catherine Jane Jones Caughron; his two daughters, Cindy Caughron Kemper and her husband, Jeffery, of Syria, Virginia and Deb Follo Caughron and her husband, Michael Follo, of Woodberry Forest; his granddaughter, Michelle Mumfrey and her husband, Mario; great granddaughter, Marianna Mumfrey; his sister-in-law, Dorothy Jones; and numerous nieces and nephews, family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Grady B. Caughron; and sister, Imogene "Gene" Caughron Smalling Lovelace; and his brother-in-laws, James "Bus" Irwin Jones and William "Bill" Francis Jones.

The family will celebrate Mr. Caughron's life 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 2, 2010, at Woodberry Forest School's Johnson Stadium with Joe Coleman officiating.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made in his name to Woodberry Forest School for the Caughron Athletic Complex, 117 Woodberry Station, Woodberry Forest, VA 22989 and / or Hospice of the Rapidan, P.O. Box 1715 Culpeper, VA 22701.

An online guestbook and tribute wall is available at www.foundandsons.com

Found and Sons Funeral Chapel of Culpeper is handling the arrangements.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.