Obituaries:  Mr. Huey Cranford, Sabine Parish       C-651
Source:  Sabine Index, Many, La., Mar 2, 1994
Submitted by: Carl Dilbeck
              carlrad@earthlink.net


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Mr. Huey Cranford

  Memorial service was held Thursday afternoon, at the
Northwestern State University Alumni Center, to honor Huey
Cranford, head basketball coach at Northwestern from 1957-65, who
died early Monday.

  The Rev. Gene Wright, one of Cranford's players at Northwestern,
presided over the service.

  In lieu of flowers, Cranford's family requested donations to the
Huey Cranford Basketball Scholarship Fund at Northwestern. To
make a donation, or for more information, mail to NSU Foundation,
Alumni Center, Natchitoches, La. 71497, or call the Alumni Center
at 319-357-4414, during business hours.

  He is survived by four children, Richard Cranford, Vicki
Cranford, Cindy Cranford, and Terri Cranford; one grandson, Will
Alexander III; and an aunt, Marie Tabor.

  Cranford, 66, died early Monday, when a fire destroyed his home
in rural Sabine Parish. Investigators said the blaze probably
started in the kitchen of his home on U.S. 171, south of
Converse.

  Cranford, a Converse native, won 116 games, and lost 98 in eight
seasons as the Demons' Coach. His career .542 winning percentage
is third among the seven men who have been head basketball coach
at Northwestern since 1913.

  He coached two Gulf States Conference championship teams, in
1957-58, and 1959-60.

  His 1959-60 tam had a 23-5 record, equaling the mark of the
1948-49 team, as the best single season record in school history.
Cranford's first Demon squad in 1957-58 posted a 20-7 record.

  He took over as Northwestern coach, after posting a five year
mark of 225-76 (.781) at Converse-Oak Grove High, and Florien
High. His 1954 Florien team won the state Prep Class B
Championship, and the 1955 team was a state finalist. His 1952
Oak Grove squad was the stat Class C runner-up.

  Two of his high school players, Dick Brown of Oak Grove, and
Jimmy "Red" Leach of Florien, rank third and fourth,
respectively, among top scores in Northwestern history.

  He was freshman coach at Northwestern, his alma mater, for two
years before replacing Dr. Charles "Red" Thomas as head varsity
coach.