The Marks Post: B.J. was a peach

Over the past several years, I have been volunteering at the Ville Platte-Evangeline Parish Recreational Complex for Dixie Youth All-Star tournaments. Over that same time, I have gotten to know B.J. Fontenot, who was a former Dixie Youth coach and umpire and never missed an All-Star tournament.
He never missed an All-Star tournament here in town and always seemed to sit near me. Whenever I announced the batter, he would laugh and call me Bob Sheppard. Whenever I messed up, he was the first one to let me hear about it. Looking back, I am glad he did because he held me accountable.
B.J. also made his presence known at the ballpark. He was loud and opinionated. He would start screaming at players and coaches as if he was still an umpire. His latest thing was when he started blaring out, “He’s stepping in the bucket!”
He was a stickler for traditions. He could not stand when the players would sit down on the field between innings or during pitching changes.
Although he had his faults, B.J. also had his positive attributes. He was a walking Dixie Youth rule book and a baseball historian. He would blurt out stats of Dizzie Dean and other random players from days gone by. He would also start carrying conversations with random fans. But, at the end of the day, we all left the ballpark like we had been knowing each other all of our lives. And it was all because of B.J., who was true ambassador of Ville Platte and Dixie Youth.
He had been sick for the past couple of years and would not come around the ballpark as often. But, when he did, he was his usual boisterous self. Now, though, he will not come around anymore. He passed away this past Wednesday and left a void in all of Dixie Youth.
I learned of B.J.’s passing when I read a social media post from Keith Greenlee which stated, “Well I just received some very sad news. My longtime friend and one of the best umpires I have ever walked on a Dixie Youth Baseball field with passed away. BJ Fontenot was someone if you ever met him you would not ever forget him. I know many of my friends that were in SC in 2014 from Columbia got to meet him and know him because he was right there with all the Columbia fans pulling for Columbia. This ol Mississippi Red Neck as he would call me sure is gonna miss him. RIP my friend.”
B.J. was a true example of appreciating the people God puts in our lives because He puts people in our lives for a reason.