[5/17/04]Gerald Crawford “Bubba” Mims Jr., head football coach and athletic director at Porters Chapel Academy, died Sunday, May 16, 2004, at his home in Vicksburg. He was 46.

“Words can’t express the things Bubba has done for Porters Chapel and the things he’s done as a coach since he’s been here,” PCA baseball coach Randy Wright said. “He was nothing but positive, and this is a tragic loss for his family and the school, and the whole community.”

Mr. Mims was a Vicksburg native, the second of five children of the late Crawford and Betty “Boop” Nosser Mims, and a 1974 graduate of Vicksburg High.

He was a star baseball and football player for Vicksburg High School, and helped the Gators to the 1973 Big Eight football championship, the equivalent of a state title today. He went on to play football at Ole Miss, where he lettered for one season.

Mr. Mims, who only stood about 5-foot-8, often used his experiences as an undersized linebacker for the Rebels to inspire his players or remind them that all it took was a little hard work to succeed.

“If you just went up to him and watched him practice, you would think he was some hard-nosed guy,” said one of his three brothers, Johnny Mims of Vicksburg. “He liked to play the part of the sergeant. But in his heart, he wasn’t like that. That’s what he thought he needed to do to get the most out of his players.”

After graduating from Ole Miss in 1979, Mr. Mims began working in his father’s chain of convenience stores and eventually became a manager and owner. He continued working there until September 2000, when he filled the coaching void at PCA four games into the season.

Mr. Mims, who had a son on the junior high team and knew most of the players from a summer baseball team he coached, initally agreed to filling in at the private K-12 school for the rest of the season. He was hired as the permanent coach and athletic director the following spring.

“It was a great help, and he was the only person who could have done it,” PCA Headmaster Gwen Reiber said. “There was no other person who could have stepped in and done it as successfully as he did.”

Mr. Mims had coached a summer baseball team, the Culkin Critters, for several years before taking over at PCA. Being a full-time coach brought him even greater joy and seemed to fill a void in his life, Johnny Mims said.

“I think that’s what really drove him to get out of the convenience store business. He had always coached in the summer league and the YMCA league, and he just followed his heart,” Johnny Mims said. “I think he finally realized this is where he was most happy. When he started doing it full time, I could see it. You could see it in his eyes and his disposition, and how he handled himself. He was just so much more pleasant to be around.”

Mr. Mims posted a 20-21 record in three-plus seasons as PCA’s coach, but he also left his mark as the school’s athletic director. In that post, Mr. Mims helped the athletic program grow to new heights.

PCA started new programs in track, golf which Mr. Mims coached and powerlifting, and also made the transition from slow-pitch softball to fast-pitch. Capital improvements were also made to the school’s gym, baseball field and football field. Long-term projects to build a new fieldhouse and football stadium were also started.

Reiber said the projects would continue.

“It would not be a tribute to Bubba to put the skids on that,” Reiber said. “That was something that was tremendously important to him.”

He is survived by his wife, Karen, of Vicksburg; sons Gerald and Judd, both of Vicksburg; daughters Claire, Paige and Jessica, all of Vicksburg; brothers Peter and Johnny, both of Vicksburg, and Paul, of West Monroe, La.; and sister Renee Boyce, of West Monroe.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Highland Baptist Church with the Revs. Brian Ivey and Anthony O’Neal officiating. Burial will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 tonight at Glenwood Funeral Home.

Pallbearers will be Paul Campbell, Ritchie Cowart, Charles Toney Jr., Bob Houser, Jerry Campbell, Steven Marcus, Ray Poole and Reed Hughes.

Honorary pallbearers will be Robby Stabler, Louis Fumbanks, Dr. Bill Porter, Dr. Calvin Masterson, Bill McRight Jr., Johnny Pete McRight, Larry McRight, Billy Joe Dottley, Rocky Nosser, Rusty Nosser, Rowdy Nosser, associates of Porters Chapel Academy, and members of the Vicksburg Critters and varsity baseball and football teams at PCA.