The world lost more than just a sports legend this week.
Marvin Terrell, who was raised in Indianola and played football for the University of Mississippi and the Kansas City Chiefs, was laid to rest this week in Yazoo City. He was 80.
Terrell - along with his bride of nearly 60 years, Lettie - had been a resident of Yazoo City for many years, following his pro career and stints in Indianola and Greenwood.
The Ole Miss Team of the Century and Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame member passed away at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson on Dec. 1.
He was preceded in death by his father Marvin Sr. and his mother Mary Fraiser.
Though he was born in West Memphis, Ark. (1938), he was raised in Indianola and attended Indianola High School.
While many will focus on the 6-foot-1, 215-pound athlete that led Ole Miss to greatness in the late 1950s, his notable football career made up just a small portion of Terrell’s life.
After football, Terrell turned his focus to his wife and his twin daughters, Julie (Trammell) and Jana (Bardwell).
But you cannot talk about Terrell without detailing his storied career.
The 1956 graduate of Indianola High School was an instant success on the football field at Ole Miss as an offensive lineman.
During his time with the Rebels, Terrell helped lead the team to a 25-4-1 overall record, according to Olemisssports.com. That included two Sugar Bowl appearances and a Gator Bowl.
The Rebels were 10-1 during his senior season, and he was named SEC Lineman of the Year.
He was a first round pick by the Dallas Texans in 1960, the same year he married Lettie, according to newspaper articles from that year.
The Texans later became the Kansas City Chiefs, and he would finish out his pro career in 1964.
After that, Terrell moved back to the Delta, where he went to work as a businessman.
In 1964, Terrell joined his parents at Terrell Farm Equipment Co. in charge of sales.
Terrell had a knack for sales, as he found success in multiple industries, including farm equipment, drug supplies and insurance.
In 1970, he moved his family to Yazoo City, where they would remain until his death.
During their nearly five decades in Yazoo City, the Terrell’s would make a profound impact on their community through their membership at First United Methodist Church and various civic organizations.
When Terrell joined Yazoo Insurance Agency in 1974, he was president of the Methodist Men’s Club.
A May 4, 1975 article in the Yazoo Herald, titled The Traveling Barbecue, detailed how Terrell and his family fulfilled his father’s cooking engagements after his untimely death in 1974.
Marvin Terrell Sr.’s reputation as a cook was unparalleled, according to the article, and he was booked to cook at so many civic events that he came up with the barbecue on wheels to handle all of the commitments.
They expected to shut the operation down after those engagements were done, but the younger Terrells were involved in quite a number of civic organizations themselves, which kept the cooking going for some time.
A Nov. 3, 2012 article from the Yazoo Herald focused on Lettie and her legacy as a music teacher at Manchester Academy and as director of music at FUMC.
Terrell’s college and professional sports career lifted him to national fame in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but to those who knew him in the 50-plus years following, they will remember him as Christian, business and civic role model.
