Coach Buford Gladney

View Video TributeView Funeral Webcast James Buford Gladney, Jr., 66, retired teacher and football coach, died Sunday, September 25, 2011 at Maury Regional Medical Center after becoming ill unexpectedly at his residence. Funeral services will be conducted Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at Oakes & Nichols with Rev. Scott Aleridge officiating. Spring Hill High School Principal Richard Callahan will offer the eulogy. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery with Rev. Melinda Britt officiating. The family will visit with friends Wednesday from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Notes of sympathy may be sent to www.oakesandnichols.com. His father, the late James Buford Gladney, Sr. a U.S. Navy aviator during World War II, was shot down in the Pacific prior to his son's birth. He was a graduate of Columbia Military Academy in 1962 and earned a B.S. Degree from Memphis State University. Following graduation, he coached for 10 years in Blanche, Tennessee. For 11 years, he taught and coached football at Spring Hill High School. The admiration and respect of his student athletes and the esteem held by the community for his years of coaching success at Spring Hill was rewarded in 2010 when the Football Stadium on the Spring Hill campus was named in his honor. He was a life-long member of First United Methodist Church, and a member of the CMA Alumni Association, Columbia Elks Lodge, The Shop, and Fruit of the Vine. Coach Gladney is survived by his mother, Mary Frances Allen Gladney, long-time retired Maury County teacher; an aunts, Martha (James) Newby, Sr. of Athens, Alabama, Lorene Allen of Columbia, and Wynelle Allen of Pulaski; uncle, Ernest (Virginia) Allen, Sr. of Columbia; and several cousins. His cousins will serve as active pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers include former players and coaches, Columbia Military Academy Class of 1962, fellow members of The Shop and Columbia Elks Lodge.