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Former S-W coach Tommy Cheek diesTommy Cheek, a former coach at Sylva-Webster High School, died last Thursday at his Raleigh home from an apparent heart attack.The 47-year-old Cheek was a captain in the N.C. Highway Patrol and was commander of Troop C, a 12-county unit based in Raleigh. He had been with the Patrol since December 1978. A graduate of Western Carolina University, Cheek taught in Jackson County Schools from 1974-78. During that time, he coached football, baseball and wrestling at Sylva-Webster. Cheek was an assistant coach to Babe Howell on the 1977 S-W baseball team that went 23-1 and won the state 3-A championship. "The first thing I think of with Tommy would be loyalty," Howell said. "He was always loyal to the coaching staff and teams he was working with. He was honest and sincere." He added, "Kids liked him. He treated them all alike and they realized that. He was the type person when he said something you knew he meant it, and they respected it." "He did a good job for us before joining the Highway Patrol," said Superintendent Frank Burrell, who was S-W's principal while Cheek was coaching there. "He was an outstanding young man when he worked for us." Cheek's wife, the former Melissa Saltz, is the sister of Cindi Simmons, women's basketball and volleyball coach at Smoky Mountain High. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to a fund set up for Cheek's children, Jordan and Thomas. Donations may be sent to Tommy Cheek Endowment Fund, State Employees Credit Union, 1000 Vandora Springs Road, Garner, N.C. 27529. Back to Sports: 12/30/99. |
Back to Archive: 12-30-99. |