Friends and colleagues of Charles Candler McConnell Jr. remember him as a man who loved basketball and children. McConnell died Jan. 31 at his home in Webster.

“Charlie was watching a ballgame,” said long-time friend Robert Cathey. ”He never did anything quiet in his life, but it appears as if he died quietly in his sleep,” Cathey said.

Cathey, former chairman of the Haywood County Board of Education, said he was responsible for recruiting McConnell as superintendent for the school system.

“Mac Sherrill and I went down to Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he was the associate superintendent,” Cathey said. “We drove around and found a school so we could talk to people who worked with Charlie. We waved a man down who was mowing to ask if he knew him. He did and so we asked what he thought ...