‘Always with us in soul’: Smiths Station mourns track coach

SMITHS STATION — When Adonica Ferguson was at the UAB Hospital in Birmingham in September, her friends decided to organize a “Faith for Ferguson” benefit for Ferguson and her family.

When Ferguson passed away early Tuesday morning — the day of the benefit — they thought about cancelling it.

Then the phone calls began.

“We wanted to cancel it,” said Veronica Jackson, Ferguson’s friend. “But we got so many phone calls from the community asking us to please not cancel it because they needed a place to gather.”

In all, between 200 and 300 people gathered in the Smiths Station High School auditorium on Tuesday night for a 90-minute program that celebrated Ferguson’s life in the form of performances and speeches.

Ferguson was a guidance counselor and track coach at Smiths Station for more than a decade and was named head girls track coach in 2006.

Cross country and boys track coach J.D. Evilsizer said Ferguson’s biggest influence was with the athletes she coached.

He said she was instrumental in helping find scholarships for her athletes, including former Auburn University runner Markita James and current Tiger senior Amelia Anderson.

“It was her giving way,” Evilsizer said. “The only thought in her mind was how she can make the people under her better. Coaches like her only come around once every so often.

“She’s going to be sorely missed.”

At the benefit, Frankie Bell served as master of ceremonies, providing the interludes between performances by the Mt. Olive Youth Choir, the 4:12 Drama Ministries, Divine, Jabari Frazier and Family and the Smiths Station Concert Choir, as well as talking about the kind of person Ferguson was and calling for prayers for her family.

“They did a beautiful job, it was very emotional,” Jackson said. “And Frankie helped bring everyone’s emotions out to cope with it.”

Ferguson is survived by her husband, James, and her two sons: Spencer, a sophomore on the AU track and field team, and Chandler, who is a freshman at Smiths Station.

“Although she’s not with us in body, she’s always with us in soul and mind,” Jackson told the crowd.

“And she’ll always be in my heart.”