Paul Edwin Terry Sr.

Paul Edwin Terry, Sr. of Ozark, AL was welcomed into Heaven on Saturday, February 15, 2025, by his beloved wife, Harriett, and his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

  Paul died just six months shy of his 90th birthday after fighting a good fight against the numerous illnesses that slowly intruded upon his body. His funeral service will be held at 2 PM on Thursday, February 20, 2025, in The Chapel at Searcy Funeral Home in Enterprise, AL. Visitation will be from 12 PM until the service begins. Fox Fleming will conduct a service in Celebration of Paul’s Life. The graveside service will be limited to immediate family members. In lieu of flowers, guests may choose to donate, in Paul’s memory, to the COPD Foundation or the American Lung Association.

 Our sweet daddy was born at home on August 16, 1935, in the Pinhook Community of Wren, AL, and grew up in nearby Decatur. Paul was encouraged to get involved in sports during his Junior High School years and went on to become an exceptional athlete at Decatur High School, earning Varsity Letters in both football and basketball each year. 

 When Paul was a Senior in High School, Coach Shug Jordan recruited him to play both offensive and defensive tackle at Auburn University. Dad and Mom met each other while attending Auburn University, were married, and soon began our family. When Dad graduated in 1957, the Cleveland Browns offered him the opportunity to play professionally in the National Football League, but he chose instead the career that would come to define him, High School Coaching. 

 After short stints as an Assistant Coach, first in Andalusia and then in Enterprise, Paul became the Head Coach at Enterprise High School in 1961 at the age of twenty-six. Later, his coaching career would take him to Florala High School and Carroll High School in Ozark, where he would eventually retire from the profession he loved with a total of 34 years as a High School Football Coach. 

  The exceptional football programs he developed received recognition when Paul was inducted into the Alabama High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, The Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame, and The Morgan County Hall of Fame. Dad always attributed his winning programs to the outstanding players and Assistant Coaches who collaborated with him. He often said, “You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and I always had the BEST.” 

 Dad always challenged himself and those around him to pursue excellence. During his time as Head Coach at Enterprise High School, he obtained a Master of Education degree from Troy State University, was a mentor in the American Legion Alabama Boys State Program and coached several Alabama All-Star Teams. Dad’s love for football was a fundamental part of his life.

  His deep love and enjoyment of family, football, fishing, and poker were reason enough for the many celebrations Paul presided over during his lifetime, celebrations that always included his friends and family. These gatherings usually featured at least one of Paul’s favorite foods, raw oysters, crackling bread, fritters, or barbecue chicken with rice, and always included far too many desserts to mention, his favorite being homemade coconut cake. This, of course, explains why Dad loved walking, for miles and miles and miles, with his four dogs around the lake near his home.

  “Coach” will always be remembered by those who loved him. He leaves behind his loving family - one son, Paul Terry, Jr. of Ozark, AL; two daughters, Vicki Stayton (Jeff) and Karren Lewis (Fred) of Enterprise, AL; brother-in-law, James Tillman of Marietta, GA; grandchildren Derek Lewis (Betsy) of Freeport, FL; Rachel Ryken (Curtis) of Enterprise, AL; Jessica Stayton (Erik) of Aurora, CO; Lynsi Kaner (Will) of San Diego, CA; great-grandchildren Landry, Gracie, Roman, Lilly, and Roland; and two well-loved dachshunds, Little Bit and Sammy.