Wiedmer: Leighton Lynn Trent Jr. a treasure UTC forever will miss

Every great organization has one, that singular soul you can't do without, even if few on the outside may know his worth.

Obituary

Leighton Lynn Trent Jr. obit

When it comes to University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletics over the past 50 years, that person was Leighton Lynn Trent Jr., who died a week ago today after a brief illness.

"He was a legend and irreplaceable," wrote associate athletic director Jay Blackman, who saddened the souls of so many of us in the media by notifying us of the 68-year-old Trent's passing.

"What a great ambassador for UTC," added Furman assistant athletic director for sports information Hunter Reid. "He was the mayor and the chamber of commerce all rolled into one. No one could have represented the school better. I can't tell you what a joy it was to come to Chattanooga and catch up with him. It was more fun visiting with him than watching the game."

Yet for 50 years - and who does anything for 50 years these days? - whenever a Mocs football, men's or women's basketball game began, Trent was not only all business but the best in the business as a football statistician and a basketball clock operator.

"I'm not sure he ever made a mistake," said Mike Royster, the UTC assistant athletic director for facilities and equipment who's been with the program for 42 years. "He showed up on time, never gave anyone any trouble and did his job as well as you can do it."

Added Reid, who's about to enter his 32nd school year at Furman: "Did Lynn ever sit down during a football game? If he did, I never saw it. He was always standing up in the press box, holding the microphone, immediately telling everyone what happened on the previous play. He was totally into his job, and he did it so, so well."

photo Mark Wiedmer

The 1966 City High graduate did it so well for so long after being a part of the first class to graduate from UTC following UC's merger with the UT system that he was honored with the Harold Wilkes Award this past winter by the school's Hall of Fame.

Said David Smotherland, who was on the committee who named Trent, to another media outlet: "There are so many times that people don't get recognized until after they pass away. The first thing I thought was, 'I'm so glad we gave him the award when we did. He was such an institution.'"

But he was so much more than an institution. He was a husband to Katherine, father to Leighton, grandfather to little Leighton and brother to Laura and William.

A smile almost always on his face, his wavy, gray hair perfectly in place, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses, his tie perfectly knotted and his blue button-down shirt crisply ironed, Trent looked every bit the math teacher and accountant he was. And quite possibly because of those math skills, he was almost as famous among his friends for remembering birthdays as he was among media types for knowing sports statistics, especially baseball stats.

"One thing I remember about working basketball games with Lynn was that he always had the time he thought the clock should be set for during pregame to have the game start on time," Royster noted. "It didn't matter what you had if you'd started it before he got there. If he came in and it didn't align with what he had, he'd change it to what he thought it should be."

This was just one of the many traits that apparently endeared Trent to referees working basketball games.

"Every (basketball) referee who ever worked one of our games relaxed as soon as they saw Lynn, because they knew there was nothing to worry about that night," Royster said.

Added former UTC men's coach Mack McCarthy, never known for hiding his emotions: "That scorers table can get pretty hectic, pretty emotional during games. But Lynn was a calming influence. I may even have acted a little better at times because he was over there."

Yet, like so many others, that was not McCarthy's most vivid memory of Trent.

"My biggest memories of Lynn are of just how nice he was," the winningest coach in UTC history said. "He was always so pleasant. He always seemed truly interested in how you were doing, how your family was doing."

So many of those interested in Trent and his family will gather at Brainerd United Methodist Church today at precisely 3 p.m. to memorialize their great friend, husband, father, grandfather and brother.

They may hear how he was once nominated for King for a Day (the male equivalent of Homecoming Queen) at City. Or how he supposedly was the only student who could beat Dynamos basketball great Steve McElhaney in a game of H-O-R-S-E, despite having been afflicted with crippling arthritis at a young age.

They'll almost certainly hear about him riding the Incline Railway from the top of Lookout Mountain to work a basketball game after a snowstorm had closed the roads at the top of the mountain. They'll also surely hear about the time he worked a football game after breaking a hip.

In a story that says it all about Trent's professionalism and work ethic, he called Blackman a couple of days before the game and said, "You may have heard I've broken my hip. But I'll be there. Sitting out is not an option. I may have to sit on a pad, but I'll be there."

And you wonder why son Leighton, while receiving family and friends during Saturday's visitation at Wann Funeral Home, said, "Dad always put everyone else first. His wife. His son. His grandson. Everyone. And he never met a stranger. He'd make them his friend after one conversation."

As Blackman recalled Trent's time in the Finley Stadium press box nursing a broken hip, he said, "Lynn was not exactly a tall guy. But he sat pretty tall in his chair for a few weeks while sitting on that pad."

Just not nearly so tall as he always stood in the hearts and minds of those who best knew the most irreplaceable member ever of the UTC athletic family.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.

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