Robert Andrew "Racer" Holstead Sr.

Funeral service for Robert Andrew "Racer" Holstead Sr., age 81, is on Saturday, March 8, at 3 p.m. at Tallulah Academy, Tallulah. Visitation at the school on Friday was from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Known as Coach to generations of players and students, Racer Holstead was born on Jan. 29, 1927, in Ruston and died Tuesday, March 4, 2008, at the Madison Parish Hospital. He was given the nickname of "Racer" at Hillcrest Grammar School when he outran all the children chasing the merry-go-round at recess. Coach Holstead graduated from Ruston High School, where he was an outstanding athlete and quarterback under his mentor, Coach Hoss Garrett. After service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he attended Louisiana Tech University on a scholarship and there he lettered in baseball and football and received his baccalaureate degree in education. After several summer sessions in the Big Eight semi-pro baseball league, where he played for the Ruston Rebels and received the highest batting average award, he began his long, illustrious coaching career in Plaquemine in 1949. He served as assistant football coach and head coach for baseball and basketball for four years. He won the first basketball state championship at Plaquemine High School in 1952. In addition, while at Plaquemine, he won his bride of 57 years, the former Lillie "SeSe" Jumonville. In 1953, he moved to Jena, where he coached for two years and earned a state runner-up title in basketball. In 1955, he moved to Tallulah for his first head football coaching job, claiming four state football championships in the years between 1958-1962. During his 14 years at Tallulah High School, his teams also won six district titles. In 1970, he moved to Tallulah Academy, where for the next three decades he was headmaster, head football coach and athletic director. With his longtime assistant coach I.T. Crothers, he won four state championships as well as five state runner-up and 13 district titles in football. He also won two state championships in golf. During his 48 years of coaching, 42 as head football coach, he achieved an impressive career record. With his 287th career victory, he moved into the top spot as the winningest high school coach in Louisiana. His cumulative coaching record of 309-146-8 ranks him 66th nationally among high school coaches. Other numerous honors that have established him as a coaching legend include his 1991 induction into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, his 1995 induction into the Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame, and his 2002 induction into the All-American Football Foundation. He was a past president of the LHSAA, one of the key organizers and the first athletic commissioner of the Louisiana Independent School Athletic Association and was presented a special commendation of merit from both houses of the Louisiana Legislature. Above all, Coach Holstead valued the many awards from his fellow coaches who remained his staunchest friends and supporters, respecting his integrity as a competitor and his nobility of character. Coach Holstead was also named national Scholastic Coach of the Year and will long be remembered for his dedication to academics, which taught his players and students to be winners in life. He is survived by his wife, SeSe; four daughters, Alexis Holstead Thompson and her husband, Bud, Heidi Holstead Mayeaux, Chere Holstead Bourgeois and her husband, Al, and Lillie Holstead; a son, Robert A. Holstead Jr.; six grandchildren, Buster and Brad Bourgeois, Danielle Clapinski and husband Greg, Chad and Megan Mahaffey and Hilary Thompson; and a great-grandson, Andrew Clapinski. He is also survived by his sister, Mary Beth Carr and husband Bob; and four nieces. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence Otis and Jimmie Howard Holstead; and brother, Clarence. His pallbearers, senior players from each of his eight state championship football teams, will be Dick Brown, Billy Foster, Wayne Noland, Leonard "Pops" Neumann, Paul Machen, Randy Collins, Jimbo Paxton and Darryl Ellerbee. Honorary pallbearers are his Louisiana Tech teammates fondly known as the "NAAGQ."