Memorial service recalls a life well lived
Charline McCombs made others feel special
The adjectives flowed freely during Tuesday's memorial service for Charline Hamblin McCombs at the Alamo Heights United Methodist Church.
She was remembered as an extraordinary human being, a devoted wife and a beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She was described as generous, charming, persistent, brilliant, inquisitive, adventurous, sometimes stubborn, an incredible puzzle doer and a thesaurus' worth of other attributes.
McCombs, wife of businessman and former Spurs owner B.J. “Red” McCombs, died Dec. 12. She was 91.
But it was McCombs' talent for making those around her feel special that just about every speaker mentioned. And she often showed her affection by hugging.
“When my parents went somewhere,” daughter Marsha Shields told the crowd, “whether it was to dinner, a party, a basketball or football game, there would be a time in the evening when my dad would say, ‘Outta here' and he would leave and get in the car. And he would sit in the car for five or 10 or 15 minutes
waiting while our mother hugged everyone in the room before she left.”
During the years Red McCombs owned the San Antonio Spurs, Shields continued, her mother would not only hug every “tall, sweaty basketball player” after games, she’d also hug — and thank — the maintenance crew, the ushers and the parking lot attendants.
Other funny stories were told.
About the time McCombs tried making homemade Christmas ornaments and ended up with glitter everywhere but on the ornaments.
The time she tried canning strawberry jam and eventually had to toss it all when it turned into moldy strawberry soup because she didn’t seal the jars properly. And how she so hated to fill her own gas tank, she’d wait at the pumps until a good Samaritan would offer to do it for her.
McCombs was also remembered for her philanthropy and the many buildings in San Antonio and across the state that bear her name, often alongside her husband’s. These include the Empire Theatre downtown, the University of Texas at Austin’s women’s softball stadium, KLRN’s media center and a residential center at Southwestern University in Georgetown.
Her influence was apparent by the many people touched by her generosity who came to pay their respects. These included
Chris Canales, who runs Gridiron Heroes, a nonprofit that provides long-term support for high school football players who suffer serious spinal cord injuries. Canales’ son Eddie was paralyzed in 2001 while playing for San Marcos Baptist Academy.
“(Red and Charline) were big supporters of our ‘Friday Night Lights’ event where we’d play the first two episodes each season,” Canales said, referring to the TV show with a paralyzed Texas high school quarterback at its emotional core. “They’d be there cheering the loudest.”
McCombs’ philanthropy was inspired by her love of God, said officiant Jake Schrum, who met the couple during his tenure as president of Southwestern University.
“I never saw a business card with Charline’s name on it, or a title,” said Schrum, who traveled with his wife, Jane, from their home in Atlanta. “But if she did have a card, what would be an appropriate title for her? I think it would be, ‘Charline Hamblin McCombs, Peddler of Hope.’ ”