Hugh "Riley" Preston

WardWilson

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Posted by: WardWilson
Date: Aug 31 2012 1:09 PM

Ward Wilson Memory Hill Funeral Home Cemetery and Crematory

2414 Hartford Highway

Dothan, Alabama 36305

334-792-4194

 

www.wardwilson.com

 

Hugh “Riley” Preston, 75, of Avon, Alabama, joined his Lord and Savior on August 30, 2012.

 

Funeral services will be September 2, 2012 at 3 P.M. at Ward Wilson Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. David Baker officiating. Burial will follow at Crestlawn Cemetery in Avon, Alabama.

 

The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 2 to 3 P.M. Sunday, September 2, 2012, one hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the American Heart Association or the American Diabetes Foundation are encouraged.

Riley was born April 6, 1937, in Echo, Alabama. The family later moved to Ashford, Alabama, and he graduated from Ashford High School. After high school, he attended Auburn University where he played centerfield for the Auburn Tiger baseball team. After college, he returned home to work in the family logging business and joined the Air National Guard Reserves. He enjoyed filling his days with family, friends, hunting, fishing and watching Auburn football and Auburn baseball. He enjoyed playing baseball and later softball, but he discovered his true love of the sport when his children were young as he coached them and their friends through little league baseball, pony league baseball, and high school softball. He helped lead the Ashford Academy Lady Falcons to the school’s first softball state championship in 1979, and later Southwest Georgia Academy to a Region I, Triple A championship in 1987. When the grandchildren came along, he could be found in a tree stand, at a “secret” fishing hole, in the stands watching volleyball, or at a dance recital-all smiles-just to be close to them. But, he will be remembered in recent years for his time right behind home plate cheering for the Dothan High School and the Troy University Trojan softball players and for offering words of encouragement to the officials.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Rymon and Mathaleen Preston, and sister, Yvonne Preston.

He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Rymon and Shandra Preston; son, Chuck Preston; son-in-law and daughter, Jeff and Peppi Cooper; and step-son and wife, Wes and Charlene Tabb; eight grandchildren, Jon Riley and Peyton Grace Preston; Kortney and Kasey Cooper’ Bethany Tabb; Lloyd Williams; Katherine VanZwienten; and Stephanie Mayo; several nieces and nephews; and special friends Carolyn Williams and Sue Tindell.

A heart-felt thank you to his brother and his wife, Rymon and Shandra Prestson, for their love and care, which allowed him to remain in his home until his death.

 

Serving as pallbearers will be Pat Green, Hal Haddock, Hank Haddock, Billy Lanford, Curtis Smith, and Owen Tabb.

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