Coach LeClair

Coach Keith LeClair passed away today. For any who might not know, he was a baseball coach at ECU who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) about 5 years ago. He went from being a coach to being wheelchair-bound in 4 months. But his faith was VERY strong, and he was such an inspiration.

The praise team at my former church went to his home & sang for him in an informal outdoor setting for an hour or so a couple of summers ago. Afterwards we went inside to meet him & pray with him, and his wife served us refreshments. Coach LeClair was amazing. He communicated with us through some kind of eye/laser technology in which he could look at an alphabet board and use it to form words thru the computer, and it "talked" to us. He encouraged US. I stood there in tears at this man who literally could not move anything but his eyes, and he was still praising God. What did I have to complain about?

I wrote an article about him, which was published in the Sunday School curriculum that lets me write for them, a year or so ago. The same article is also published this month in Carolina Life, the magazine for WAGO, which is the radio station where my husband works part-time. The timing is just amazing, isn't it? I'm sad for his family but I know he is in a better place now. He made quite an impact on this community before he got sick, and even more so afterwards, I think.

He died being known as a man of faith. What a wonderful legacy!