RINGGOLD, Ga. - Flip-flops, sundresses and board shorts were the proper attire at Sunday's memorial service at the Ringgold City Pool for long-time area youth swimming coach Mark List.
List coached thousands of junior swimmers since moving to north Georgia in 1993, including teams in Ringgold and Marietta, Ga., as well as Baylor, Ooltewah and, most recently, McCallie.
"He was a coach who was really positive," McCallie coach Stan Corcoran said. "I can't believe how many people in the last week have said, 'I can't believe what happened to Mark.'
"Every single one said things like, 'He's always positive, always upbeat, always looking at the bright side of things.'"
List died on Aug. 8, while coaching with his wife of 35 years, Bonny, at a camp in Fryeburg, Maine. He was 59.
Survivors include his children: Luke, who is a professional golfer with PGA Tour experience; Bekah, who recently became engaged; and Sarah, who recently moved to Atlanta. List is also survived by siblings Jim List, J.B. List, Elizabeth Grace and Mary Jo McKellar.
On Sunday evening, several hundred people mingled around the pool, recounted old times and looked at dozens of pictures of List, including all of his family - biological and swimming family. High school teammates, college teammates and kids he coached in north Georgia who have their own kids now attended.
There were no neckties in the line to greet Mrs. List and other family members. One teenager attended the event in just his swimming trunks.
"This pool, we couldn't think of a place that would be more fitting," said Bekah List, as a handful of kids splashed in the water and attempted tricks off of a diving board. "The pool is the place he loved the most."
List grew up in Ohio and then Massachusetts before becoming a two-time All-American swimmer at North Carolina, where he met his future wife, Bonny Brown.
"I wonder if Mark has his flip-flops as he walks into heaven," said Bonnie's brother, Brian Brown, during a ceremony on a grassy field near the pool.
Bekah List swam on a team coached by her father and loved every almost every minute as a 10-year-old.
"And he'd always put me on the losing relay team," she said. "I'm like, 'Dad, c'mon, doesn't the coach's kid get some advantage?' He's like, 'No that's not very nice to the other kids."
All three of List's children recounted stories of how much time they spent with him on their way to swimming practice and meets or golf events. Each of them shared that they gained wisdom from those talks. Sarah List joked that she heard about the birds-and-bees as a 6-year-old.
Luke List is the odd man out of the family because he preferred having his feet on dry land and smacking golf balls. But he did swim for one year. He even shaved his head.
But he knew his future success, with the support and advice from his father, would be on dry land swinging a golf club.
"He always asked me, 'Did you try your best? Did you have fun? What did you learn?'" Luke List said. "He later stopped asking if I tried hard. Then, the fun question - well, sometimes I didn't."
Mark List would have had fun on Sunday at a place he loved the most - the pool.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him at Twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP