All In The Family At Mcdonogh 35 Submitted by N.O.V.A. July 2005 Times Picayune 10-16-1998 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Ollie Tillery Smith told her kids family is strength. She said they had to stick together through bad times and good. There wasn't an abundance of money but the necessities were provided every day like a hot meal, clothes and a pair of good shoes for school and church. Ollie is 76 now. She doesn't move as quick she used to. Her voice is low-pitched. Life, though, has been a treasure. One of those treasures is seeing her sons -- Emmett, Robert and Roy -- stand on the sideline and teach high school boys about offense, winning and how to cope from a lost game. Emmett, is in his fifth year as McDonogh 35's head football coach. Roy, has been an assistant on his brother's staff for five years. Robert, is in his fourth season. Roy is offensive coordinator. Robert is running backs coach. And Ollie is one proud momma. "I just love it," Ollie said. "I never imagined all three of them would be coaching together. But I knew whatever they put their minds to, they would go the distance." Ollie and her husband, Clinton Smith Sr., who died in 1995, helped raise 11 children. Four girls and seven boys. Robert is the fifth oldest; Emmett the sixth; Roy the eighth. Emmett said he was the best basketball player. Robert said he was the fastest. Roy played baseball at Southern University and graduated from McDonogh High School in 1975 and was a standout football player. Emmett is the talker. Robert is quiet. Roy is a little of both. They enjoy winning. All three are teachers, but Emmett is the only one who teaches at McDonogh 35. Emmett graduated from Dillard University. "Sports is our topic of conversation all the time," Emmett said. "Growing up, we were always competitive. But Roy was the best athlete. He had the biggest name in the house." They grew up in the St. Bernard Housing Development. The tackle football games in the courtyard were competitive. When the seasons changed, so did the sport of choice for the brothers. Baseball was played in the spring and summer. Basketball in the winter. Emmett said they would play ball before they washed their faces on summer mornings. But when Ollie and Clinton were not at home, the house rule went into effect. The kids couldn't leave the apartment, so they made the best of it. They would put up the old peach basket with a hole at the bottom, clear some of the furniture and the basketball games began -- indoors. When they weren't playing ball, they saw families who were close-knit, successful. They saw families marred in such tragedy as losing a father or a son to drugs or gunshots. "I think having my father around helped a lot to avoid things," said Roy. "He was a real strong man, he only wanted the best for us." They had to go to school. They had to do their homework. Brothers and sisters helped each other. "When he said get up and go to school, we got up and went," Emmett said. "I had perfect attendance from the first grade until the sixth. My father wanted us to have the things he didn't have." Clinton Jr., the third oldest son, was the first to graduate from college. Emmett enlisted in the Navy for three years and returned to New Orleans in 1975 and enrolled at Dillard University. Roy earned a baseball scholarship to Southern. Robert was attending Dillard. "My husband just loved talking about his children to people," Ollie said. "They made him proud." Six years ago, Emmett, Roy and Robert and their brothers and sisters helped build their parents a house in their mother's hometown, which is just outside of Amite. During some holidays, that's where they gather. Robert said few a years ago, he needed help buying an air conditioning for his house. So all his brothers and sisters loaned him the money to get one. The brothers are meeting. They are talking football, reviewing what happened during last week's loss to Sarah Reed in the Superdome, which ended a nine-game winning streak for the Roneagles against district opponents that dated back to last season. Emmett then calls his sister, next is his younger brother, Harold, 31. Every day, they make their mother's wish come true. They're sticking together. Family is strength. "I have everything men with a million dollars have," Emmett said. "I have luxuries and it starts with my family."