The Memory Of the Righteous Will be Blessed

A 15 year old young man arrived home from basketball practice, sat down in his favorite chair and satiated his hunger with a bowl of peaches and cottage cheese.  No one really knows what really happened, but his mother arrived home to find him slumped over.  She immediately summoned the medical professionals who worked furiously upon him, but Bobby Joe Bumpous Jr. was gone, deceased at age 15, only 2 months and 11 days from his 16^th birthday. The culprit was a defective, irregular heart valve.

The mother, family, and friends, of “Joey” as he was affectionately known by all, were devastated.  A bright light that had dwelled in their midst had unexplainably been extinguished.  In the face of such a tremendous loss, a phoenix did rise out of the ashes, and that was the revelation of the person Joey Bumpous really was. The young man had made himself a life devoted almost entirely to being the best that he could be, and to being in the service of helping others.  As a peer counselor he guided his mates, as a ball player he set the tone by giving his best every play, whether it was in practice, or in the game.  He disliked seeing people sorrowful, sad, under duress, or suffering, and anyone who was a victim of these maladies was a friend of Joey’s.  In wisdom that should seemingly have been well beyond his years he would share his views on life which were always optimistic, and show a person the bright side of a bad situation.  Each time somewhere in the process, he’d warm you up with his trademark smile.

At Joey’s funeral which was held at the Fulton County High School, the gymnasium was filled to standing room only capacity, and the halls were filled that led to the gym.  At the door the line meandered outside.  He was so young, yet he had positively affected so many lives.  Everyone had their personal Joey story, he had become all things, to be of help to all people.  For his peers his role had been as an encourager, for the senior citizens in his community it had been as a courier and runner, for the hoodlums in his community it was the role of a preacher with an unyielding conviction to do no thing except for the right thing.  There were few things Joey hated; the exceptions were drugs and alcohol.   Even in this area, Joey loved the people while hating the things that they did.

Fulton County Judge/Executive David Gallagher (Former the Fulton County High School Football Coach), says about Joey Bumpous, “He was an excellent student and a great ambassador for Fulton County High School.   His hard work ethic inspired within his teammates, the desire to succeed.”  Judge Gallagher, says that Joey routinely performed double or triple the amount of work asked of him as a player in order to encourage his teammates to give the same effort.  He remembers him as being tall, tough, robust, and physically formidable, while synonymously being a” big ole’ teddy bear”.

At 15 years of age Joey was 6 ft 3, weighed over 200 pounds and sported a whopping size 16 shoe, and he was sure to do more growing. As an athlete his ability was 1 in a million. As a student, he maintained a straight A average, he was a member of the Academic Team, Editor of the newspaper, a member of the Honor Club and Beta Club, and he had also journeyed to the Capitol in Washington, D.C. where he met the Governor of Kentucky and received the Governors Award.  His future was as bright as any light could possibly shine and unfortunately for this amazing young man it was not to be so.
 

Posthumously he received some remarkable honors: Kentucky Highway 94 was re-named, “Joey Bumpous Memorial Drive”.  Also the Fulton County High School founded the “Joey Bumpous Memorial Scholarship,” which has lasted 21 years and was only terminated May, 15^th, 2014, for lack of funding.  With all of Joey’s old teachers gone and his immediate family no longer living in the area, the ending of the scholarship could have gone unnoticed, but an unseen hand was moving.  While performing simple household tasks, Joey’s older sister, (Mechelle Bumpous) heard God whisper two distinct words into her ear, “Joey’s scholarship.”  She immediately called Fulton County High Schools secretary, Mrs. Atwill who related to her that the announcement for the cessation of the scholarship had gone out just one day before.  Mechelle’s next call went out to Fulton County Judge David Gallagher, Joey’s old football coach and mentor.  She asked, did he know that Joey’s scholarship had ended?  He hadn’t heard as such, and was astounded at the news.  “No, it won’t end,” he promised her personally. 

Interestingly, those are the exact sentiments of the family and friends of Joey Bumpous.  223 people have mobilized a Facebook campaign, “The Joey Bumpous Memorial Scholarship Fund” Facebook page.  They are resolute about keeping the memory of their comrade alive.  The Hickman Courier who ran the original story now chipped in again by doing another piece about Joey to raise the public awareness for funding.  In all respects the memory of this righteous young man has been blessed and the unseen hand just keeps on moving to keep his legacy alive.

I knew Joey personally and I like all can attest that Joey had big feet, literally and metaphorically. His loss came with a devastating impact, and afterward there was an unmistakable hole.  He was a gentle giant a youth of excellent character, speech, and conduct. He ranks in my heart as one of the kindest and sweetest souls that I have ever known.  Lots of other people think so too, he was extra-ordinary,  so much so, that the donations that poured into his scholarship fund immediately after his death in 1993 alone, lasted 21 years at a rate of 250 dollars a year, for 20 years, and 500 for one year.  That is amazing!  That helped a lot of people who were striving to be successful, like Joey was striving for success.  In interviews for this blog Joeys sister relates  remembrances of Joey being worn out, tired, and resting resting from endeavors that kept him on the fly all the time.  She says, "There were times that he would come home from practice and he would be too tired to eat or take his pads off, and that he would sometimes fall asleep with them still on.  His coach says that he often gave double, or triple the work that was asked for.  It is an amazing picture of a young man who lived his life in such a way that he is still being of service in his death.  The memory of the righteous will be blessed.  The Joey Bumpous Memorial Scholarship Fund.

If you would like to give a donation to honor the legacy of service that Joey Bumpous left behind you can send them to:

“The Joey Bumpous Memorial Scholarship Fund”  (in care of)

 Fulton County High School,
2740 Moscow Avenue

Hickman KY 40250

Also visit: The Joey Bumpous Memorial Scholarship on Facebook