Obituary of Alric James Smith

Mr. Alric James Smith, also known as, Coach Al, was born January 20, 1953 in Canton, Ohio to the union of William Smith, Sr., and Jimmie Pearl Gilmore. He accepted Christ at an early age and was a member of Galilee Baptist Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Alric spent his youth in Parchment, Michigan where he graduated from Parchment High School in 1972. He excelled in basketball, football, and track. Upon graduation from Parchment High School Alric was employed by Eckrich Meat Company for a period of five plus years. He eventually became a delivery driver and subsequently ended up working for Kalamazoo County as a custodian. After working for a number of years he retired taking a medical leave. During Coach Al's lifetime he was an avid Rocket Football Coach and mentored hundreds of young men in the game of football and life. On December 14, 2018 Al was one of a number of individuals inducted into the Parchment High School Basketball Hall of Fame. Al was a member of the Parchment High School Basketball team, which went eight overtimes, which to this day is a world record. This was one of his proudest achievements. If you knew Al, you knew his love for the Ohio State Buckeyes and that he always wore Adidas. Al is survived by his mother, Jimmie Pearl Fountain, two brothers, Dr. William Smith Jr., (Petra), Frank Smith, one favorite sister, Merilyn Fountain-Jones (Ronald), Three nephews, Ronald, Jr., LaVarro, and Marcus Jones, two nieces, Amber and Atia Smith, one great nephew, John Mitchell, three special cousins, Juanita Cooper, Flora Jones, and Tommy Moore, Jr. Special God Children Kawonna, Latrena and Omari Dixon and a great number of other family members and friends. Al was a son, brother, friend, mentor, and will be truly missed.