Shock, tears after Glaize's death

Shock and many tears flowed through Brewton and other areas Sunday as news spread that T.R. Miller High School graduate Curtis Robertson Glaize, 24, was killed earlier that day in a single-vehicle accident 5 miles outside of Lafayette, Ala.

The 2012 T.R. Miller graduate was a first-year teacher and offensive line coach at Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City.

Those that knew him best described him as the person who always had a smile on his face; could always make a gloomy day brighter; and never met a person he didn't like.

The son of Ed and Alecia Glaize, Curtis moved to Brewton when he was in the sixth grade when his father became pastor at the First United Methodist Church. He immediately developed friendships that carried on until the day he died.

Conner Denton fought back tears as he talked about his friend Curtis.

He said they first met when Curtis arrived in Brewton and both were in the sixth grade.

"We've been best friends and brothers ever since," Denton said.

He said the last contact he had with Curtis was the Friday before he was killed when he sent Curtis a text asking him to be a groomsman at his wedding. They talked on the phone a week before just after Curtis proposed to his own fiancee.

"The 2012 class was very close," Denton said. "We had recently started a group Facebook page to plan a cookout for homecoming."

Denton said when he woke up Sunday morning and checked the Facebook page he began seeing the messages about Curtis being killed.

"I broke down crying," he said. "Then I called some friends because I didn't want to believe it."

He said like in most schools there was always a close knit group of friends. He said Curtis was in that group but he also had many friends outside that group.

"He loved everybody," Denton said. "And they loved him. No matter where you were he brought life into the room and made everybody else's life better as well."

Tyler Etheridge also first met Curtis when he moved to Brewton in the sixth grade and said they immediately became friends.

"He was the one you went to when you were down and needed a good laugh," Etheridge said. "Especially after my dad got diagnosed with cancer, he kept me in a good mood."

Etheridge said he didn't know Curtis' father was a preacher and invited him to church at Brewton First Baptist Church.

"He said 'sure, I'll come with you if you come with me'," Etheridge added. "So we went to both churches and we became friends."

When first learning of Curtis' death, Etheridge said he shed a lot of tears and then shock took over.

"It took a day or two for me to realize it was real and what really happened," he said.

After graduating together at T.R. Miller, both went to Jefferson Davis Community College before Curtis transferred to Auburn.

But he said the separation in distance didn't separate the friendship.

"He always wanted to know what was going on with T.R. Miller football," he said. "We continued to talk and we hung out together every chance we had. It still doesn't seem real."

Madeline Hildreth said her children and Curtis weren't the same age, but she had him in Sunday School and in other activities at the Methodist Church.

"He was always happy and tried to make people feel good and some of his antics made him ridiculous," she said. "He'd show up with messy hair, his shirt tail hanging out and you wanted to get on him, but you just laughed."

"He was a big old kind Teddy Bear," Hildreth said. "He made an impact on many people's lives. You couldn't get mad at him even when you wanted to."

She also said Curtis loved Auburn football and later learned that Curtis' first grade teacher in Tallassee took him to a football game.

"Obviously he made a good impression on her," she said, adding that Curtis probably asked her if he could go to a game with her.

"He never met a stranger," she added. "He loved to sing, but he couldn't sing very well, but he was always loud. It's just a tragic situation and he'll be missed by so many people."

Curtis played center and defensive tackle for T.R. Miller under Jamie Riggs from 2008 to 2001 and Riggs also said he remembers the smile.

"You'd want to choke him and he'd just smile at you," Riggs said. "Curtis was always a lot of fun. He was a great teammate and always showed up at practice with a smile on his face."

He said when he learned Curtis was going into coaching, he said he knew it would be a good fit.

"He had all the tools to be a good coach," Riggs said. "He had a passion for the game and he had a great demeanor about him. He was going to be a great coach. It's just a sad loss."

David Stokes said Curtis was a year behind his son Rob and they also met when Curtis' father became the pastor at First United Methodist Church.

"He put a smile on everybody's face," he said. "Sometimes you didn't know whether or not to take him seriously."

Stokes said he remembers the first time he met Curtis at the church.

"He was about 11 or 12 and I said 'boy, what's your name'," Stokes said. "He turned around and looked me dead in the eye and said 'I'm Curtis Glaize and I'm adopted."

Stokes said he was a little floored but found out Curtis was not adopted and the joke was on him.

"That was Curtis," Stokes said. "He made everybody laugh."

Stokes also said that the Methodist Church normally changes pastors every four to five years, but noted Ed Glaize stayed 10 for his children.

"He wanted his children to grow up in Brewton," Stokes said. "He wanted his children to have a place to call home and he picked Brewton. Ed was the longest tenured preacher at the Methodist Church."

"It's been hard," Stokes added. "It's all I've thought about for the past few days. It just breaks your heart."

A memorial service will be held for Curtis at 11 a.m. Thursday (today) at the Brewton First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Ken Jackson officiating.

He is survived by his parents Ed and Alecia Glaize; one sister, Anna Grace Glaize; his grandmother Nancy R. Glaize and his fiancee Loren Padgett.

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to establish a scholarship fund in Curtis' name. Donations can be sent to First United Methodist Church at 820 Belleville, Ave., Brewton, Ala. 36426.