photo by Brent Maze

Retired: Coach Sheldon Ward (right) presents the family of Kevin Jenrette with his framed jersey. They are 1-year-old Megan, Shannon, Col. Bill, Ursula, 8-year-old Corey and 5-year-old Brodie Jenrette.

Rangers retire jersey of fallen soldier

By Dusty Harper (Contact), | Dadeville RecordBrent Maze (Contact) | Dadeville Record

Published Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Lyman Ward Military Academy took time to honor one of its own Friday night prior to the Rangers’ 21-19 homecoming win over South Montgomery Academy.

The football team retired the jersey of the late Kevin Jenrette, a 1990 graduate and son of academy president Col. Bill Jenrette. Football coach Sheldon Ward presented a framed No. 52 jersey to Col. Jenrette and his wife along with Kevin Jenrette’s wife and children just after the national anthem.

Col. Jenrette was surprised by the special honor.

“All they told me was to be prepared to go out on the football field for a special presentation,” said Jenrette, who is the president of the Lyman Ward Military Academy. “There aren’t usually secrets on a campus like ours, but I was surprised that they retired Kevin’s number.”

Ward said he was privileged to present the retired jersey to Kevin Jenrette’s family.

“I was more than honored to do this,” Ward said. “I thought it went well and (Col. Jenrette) genuinely appreciated it. It was a good night.”

Kevin Jenrette was deployed to his first tour of duty on April 2, 2009, and killed in action one month later while fighting with the Georgia National Guard in Afghanistan.

Col. Jenrette said his family received lots of support from the Lyman Ward family in the wake of the loss.

“We’ve received support not only from our faculty, staff, student body and alumni, but also from Dadeville and the whole Tallapoosa County area,” Jenrette said. “When you are dealing with the loss of a son, that’s more than one person should have to bear, and we just appreciate everyone who supported us through this difficult time.”

shortly after the news of Kevin’s death spread around campus, Ward wanted to do something to honor Kevin and eventually decided to retire the No. 52 jersey.

“Once his son was killed in Afghanistan, not immediately, but soon after I thought about doing something to remember his name,” Ward said. “I thought retiring his jersey would be a good gesture. Col. Jenrette is such a good guy, so I’m sure his son was great, too.”

Col. Jenrette said he was honored to accept this recognition for his son.

“It’s very humbling for the football team to retire his jersey that night in honor of his contributions to the school and his service to our country,” he said. “It was a special night.”

And to cap it all off, the Rangers earned their first win of the season.

“I won’t say that (the win) made the night special, but it certainly made it sweeter,” Col Jenrette said.

Lyman Ward has a memorial to Kevin Jenrette on their Web site, www.lwma.org.

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