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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Loses Another Poole With Passing of Oliver Poole
6/29/2009 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. Oliver Lamar Poole, 87, of Gloster, Miss., a member of the famous "Pooles of Ole Miss" which produced over 50 University of Mississippi athletics letters, passed away Saturday in Ruston, La., following an extended illness.
Brown Funeral Home on Highway 24 in Gloster is in charge of the service, which will be held Wednesday, July 1, at 2 p.m., at Gloster United Methodist Church with Reverend Jimmy Pyles officiating. Interment will follow at Roseland Cemetery in Gloster. Visitation is set for Tuesday night from 6 to 8 p.m., at Brown Funeral Home.
Oliver Poole, a first cousin to Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame brothers Buster, Ray and Barney Poole, lettered as a tackle for Coach Red Drew's Rebels in 1946 and then played three years of professional football. "Poole Drive" on the Ole Miss campus is named in honor of the family.
Selected in the 15th round of the 1944 draft by New York, he played two years in the All-American Football Conference, first with the New York Yankees in 1947 and then with the Baltimore Colts in 1948. Poole's final year in pro football was with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League in 1949.
Oliver was an end for the Rebels during his freshman and sophomore years, playing briefly in 1941. He was shifted to tackle in 1942 and was a starter, but left Ole Miss after that season to attend the University of North Carolina as a Marine V-12 trainee. He was a starter at Carolina in 1943 and made the All-Southern Conference squad, was All-State and was an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American.
Ole Miss did not field a football team in 1943 when the sport was abolished at all Mississippi state-supported institutions for that season.
During World War II, Poole proudly served his country as a four-year veteran of the United States Marines Corps, rising to the rank of sergeant and spending one year overseas. While serving with the Marines, Poole was a member of the Camp Lejeune football squad in 1944.
Following his pro football career, Oliver, a graduate of Crosby High School, coached junior college and high school football in Mississippi and Louisiana, spending most of his time as a teacher and coach in Jonesville, La.
Born April 18, 1922 in Gloster, he is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, the former Gayle Simmons Poole, also of Gloster; son Lamar Poole (Meghan) of Baton Rouge, La.; daughter Peggy Poole Gilmore (Danny) of Ruston, La.; sister Murl Strong and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Oliver was preceded in death by his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Farley (Boss) Poole, a sister, Avis Jean Poole, and his father and mother in-law, Mr. & Mrs. L. J. Simmons, and two brothers- in-law, Carter Bailey and Omer B. Strong.
