One of the most recognizable faces at T.R. Miller will be honored Friday night as Andrew “Zeke” Johnson will be honored for his services to the school.
This Friday, when the T.R. Miller Tigers take to the field against the Opp Bobcats, Johnson will be honored for his 40th season with T.R. Miller. Johnson just turned 71 years old.
A graduate of Brewton’s former Booker T. Washington High School, Johnson began work at T.R. Miller as a custodian in 1969 and retired from that position in 1994.
He has been serving as manager for all T.R. Miller sports during that time.
In 2004, Johnson was honored for his 30 years of service to the team and fans and players wore T-shirts that said, “Zeke, how could we ‘manage’ without him.”
Johnson also has the T.R. Miller equipment room in the field house named in his honor.
“Zeke is kind of an institution of himself around here,” TRM head coach Jamie Riggs said. “When you say T.R. Miller, Zeke is one of the first people you think about. He has been very loyal to us and very hardworking over the course of 40 years. He is really, I think, not only a representative of T.R. Miller High School, but also for the city of Brewton. T.R. Miller, Zeke and Brewton just all seem to go together.”
Riggs said he goes a lot of places and does a lot of traveling with his job and he has numerous people always asking him about Zeke.
“They always are asking how he is doing,” Riggs said. “He is always at games whether it be football, basketball or baseball games.
“Everybody always wants to know how he is doing and he has affected so many students down through the years. He has a very positive about life. The students remember that and have enjoyed him throughout the years.”
Riggs said he has been very appreciative of the work Zeke has put in at the school.
“Forty years of doing something is pretty spectacular in business or anything,” Riggs said. “For years he worked at the school. He has not done that in 20 years or something, so basically he has just been volunteering up here. It has been important for him to be up here and he has been important to us to have him around.”
Zeke will be recognized before the game Friday night.
Special t-shirts have been made in his honor.