Donald Cleveland Smith's funeral procession was a little louder most in Oxford, Miss. His final journey was led by the Ole Miss football equipment truck, one he drove for years.
Four days after Smith, a 76-year-old Navy veteran, passed away on Jan. 4, he was laid to rest at Saint Peter's Cemetery in Oxford.
"He worked as the president of Smith Oil, as a general contractor and later, perhaps most proudly, as the driver of the red, white and blue big-rig that hauled the Ole Miss football team’s gear from stadium to stadium," read his obituary.
That red, white and blue rig led the procession on Tuesday.
"My grandfather spent years driving the Ole Miss football team’s equipment in this truck," tweeted his grandson, New York Times writer Alan Blinder. "Today, it led his funeral procession in Oxford. What a life, and what a fitting tribute."
That wasn't the only colorful tribute to Smith. The second-to-last sentence of his obituary:
"Ole Miss attire and colors are welcome at Mr. Smith’s funeral service."
