by Butch Blume/South Carolina Baptist Courier, posted Monday, June 13, 2016 (6 years ago)
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Photo courtesy of Clemson University Sports Information
CLEMSON, S.C. (BP) -- When Father's Day rolls around this year, Dabo Swinney won't be able to pick up the phone and call his dad.
But Clemson's head football coach still has a few voicemail messages from the man he calls "Big Erv," who passed away last August. Maybe he'll listen to them again, as he does from time to time.
Last summer, in the months before he died, Ervil Swinney had been receiving treatments in Greenville for a recurrence of lung cancer. Still, he seemed to be doing pretty well. By August, he was back at his appliance shop at the M&M Hardware in Alabaster, Ala., where he enjoyed "holding court" with his buddies. He felt tired and sat down to take a nap. He never woke up. Read More