Remembering a Classmate and Loyal Bulldog Fan
I was driving around Saturday morning taking care of a few errands when I received a text from a friend back home.
The friend was asking if I had heard the news about another classmate who had passed away after a heart attack. I had not heard and the news was a shock that someone my age had been taken in such a manner.
Greg Pope and I attended school together for years graduating high school back as members the Class of 1989 at Piedmont Academy. He was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known and he and his wife owned and operated a successful law practice in Newton County where he was from.
Greg was, without a doubt, the biggest Georgia Bulldog fan I’ve known and I’ve known some die-hard. He rarely, if ever, missed a home game and he worried about every game played. I know he was looking forward to seeing how the team would do in the playoffs, hoping for that elusive national championship. He would have loved Monday’s double overtime win.
One of the memories that has always stayed with me about Greg was the time we sat in the library at our school listening to the Georgia men’s basketball team on the radio as it played in the SEC tournament. The game went down to the wire and it appeared the Bulldogs would lose. However, a last second basket allowed UGA to advance.
It was such a thrilling win we both leaped out of our seats in excitement. Greg, who was a little taller than I was, sent his clinched fist through the ceiling tile. After our celebration ended we tried to fix the tile so his mom, the school librarian, would not notice. It didn’t work. She noticed and promptly grilled the two of us about our senseless celebration.
Greg and I also shared a passion for politics. While I enjoyed the political campaigning part of the process, Greg was a fan of the law making side of things. That early interest no doubt helped lead to his career as a lawyer.
We were the only two in our class who followed presidential primaries and elections even though we were not old enough to vote. At times we supported the same candidate and other times we took different paths.
Greg was also a Republican before it became the vogue thing to be. I remember once thinking I had the perfect dilemma for him. There were rumors that long-time University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley would retire and run for the U.S. Senate—as a Democrat. At the time no one in Georgia would be elected to a state-wide office without being a Democrat.
With Greg being such a die-hard UGA fan as well as a loyal Republican I wondered how he would handle this situation. Without hesitation Greg told me, “I would vote for the Republican running against Dooley.”
Greg accomplished a great deal in his life. From his educational pursuits (he was the valedictorian of our class) to his professional career, he certainly had made many strides. He was a valuable member of his community and church.
However, I know Greg would tell you the thing he was most proud of was his family. He and his wife Liz have two children and it was obvious those three were the motivation for everything Greg did both professionally and personally.
His wife, children and parents are on my mind today. Words cannot ease the pain of a sudden loss such as this.
Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.