Sonny Springer Passes
- Thread starter hemicudas
- Start date
That's terrible news, $Bill.hemicudas said:
He was one of the greatest. I don't know if he was as well know up North, but I know he had an influence on many lives, and beat many players in Mississippi and all around the South.
Mike
Sorry to hear about Sonny Springer, Bill.
I never met him, but I have enjoyed hearing quite a few tales about his travels, one being the time he backed Davd Matlock against Keith in Fort Worth on a bar box for 20 large bags of sand.
Then there was the time the Ronnie Allen, Keith, and Sonny went fishing for stripers. Ronnie was telling his usual old stories, as well as Sonny was telling his. Keith said he had never laughed so hard. Ronnie and Sonny both came out of the carney business in a prior life. So you can imagine they had some funny tales to tell.
Bill, I was going to try to locate a picture of Sonny in some old pool periodicals, and you beat me to it.
JAM
P.S. Keith wanted to know where Sonny was living when he passed.
I never met him, but I have enjoyed hearing quite a few tales about his travels, one being the time he backed Davd Matlock against Keith in Fort Worth on a bar box for 20 large bags of sand.
Then there was the time the Ronnie Allen, Keith, and Sonny went fishing for stripers. Ronnie was telling his usual old stories, as well as Sonny was telling his. Keith said he had never laughed so hard. Ronnie and Sonny both came out of the carney business in a prior life. So you can imagine they had some funny tales to tell.
Bill, I was going to try to locate a picture of Sonny in some old pool periodicals, and you beat me to it.
JAM
P.S. Keith wanted to know where Sonny was living when he passed.
Sonny
I am very sorry to hear about this. I just spoke with Sonny New Year's Day in Grenada and he seemed to be in good spirits. Let the Lord be with him.
Chuck Raulston
I am very sorry to hear about this. I just spoke with Sonny New Year's Day in Grenada and he seemed to be in good spirits. Let the Lord be with him.
Chuck Raulston
Well JAM how did it turn out?
That would have been worth watching.
Ken
JAM said:I never met him, but I have enjoyed hearing quite a few tales about his travels, one being the time he backed Davd Matlock against Keith in Fort Worth on a bar box for 20 large bags of sand.
That would have been worth watching.
Ken
JAM said:Sorry to hear about Sonny Springer, Bill.
I never met him, but I have enjoyed hearing quite a few tales about his travels, one being the time he backed Davd Matlock against Keith in Fort Worth on a bar box for 20 large bags of sand.
Then there was the time the Ronnie Allen, Keith, and Sonny went fishing for stripers. Ronnie was telling his usual old stories, as well as Sonny was telling his. Keith said he had never laughed so hard. Ronnie and Sonny both came out of the carney business in a prior life. So you can imagine they had some funny tales to tell.
Bill, I was going to try to locate a picture of Sonny in some old pool periodicals, and you beat me to it.
JAM
P.S. Keith wanted to know where Sonny was living when he passed.
Sonny was living in Mantee, Mississippi.
Ken_4fun said:
Well, Ken, to make a long story short, the match-up took 26 hours, with Matlock coming out on top. I actually just got finished writing about this happening, but I'm not sure I want to lay it out at this time for public consumption (LOL). Keith claims that he never made a ball on the break [what else is new?
], and that there was something funny about the table. 
At that time, Keith was a rambling man and hung his hat in Oklahoma City, staying with a fellow named Will Willingham. So, about 2 or 3 weeks later back in Oklahoma City, Keith and the 20-bags-of-sand stuck stakehorse named Junior Weldon a/k/a Weldon Rogers went hunting for David Matlock, hoping to get themselves a little sweet revenge. They came, they conquered, and Keith managed to win the 20 bags of sand back for Junior.
Then a month or so later, Matlock and Keith played another 10-ahead set in Richmond, Kentucky, for 10 bags of sand. If memory serves me right, it was at a joint called the Maverick Club where they used to hold the Clyde Childress Memorial tournament. The place was packed, and just about every good player in the country was there, Jimmy Reid, Earl Strickland, et cetera. It was a gambling joint, and this is a time when action was prevalent. Everybody liked to bet it up. This time, the set didn't take long, about an hour or so. Matlock was backed by a different stakehorse this time, not Sonny Springer. Keith played well, enabling him to be the victor once more.
JAM
hemicudas said:
I only met Sonny once, while I was travelling with Cliff and one thing about Sonny is that he garned respect. even after he no longer played he still was not afraid to bet it up. Cliff paid homage to Sonny the same way that a great fighter pays homage to a legend. I wish that we had more war stories from the past road legends of pool before they passed. My grandfather Don Willis, Sonny Springer, Cleo Vaughn, Johnny Ervolino, Larry Liscotti, Clyde Childress, Gary Spaeth, One eyed Tony, Danny McGoorty, Louis Roberts. These guys are what attracted me to pool not the winners of tournaments, but the guys who would get down with there last dollar and fire away.
I hope that we absorb all the knowledge and stories we can from living legends like Grady, Buddy, Keither, Morro, Cliff, Cole Dickson, Jimmy Reid, Jack Cooney, James Weldon, Flyboy, etc.
Rest in Peace Sonny
Huck
This from the Starkville Daily News
Tex J. 'Sonny' Springer
MANTEE - Graveside funeral services for Tex J. "Sonny" Springer will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. The Rev. Johnny Davidson will officiate.
Welch Funeral Home of Starkville is handling the arrangements.
Mr. Springer died Monday, Jan. 23, 2006, at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. He was 77. A Mantee native and resident, he was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean conflict. He was the retired owner of Springer Motor Company.
Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Ursula Springer of Mantee; one daughter and son-in-law, Tammy and Kirk Howard of San Antonio, Texas; one son and daughter-in-law, Thomas J. and Becky Springer of Mantee; four grandchildren, Laura Andrews and her husband, Brad, Amy Howard, Ashley Howard and Michael P. Gray; and a special cousin, Beth Nell Glover.
Memorial donations may be made to the Mantee Baptist Church Building Fund, the Palmer Home for Children in Columbus or to the American Heart Association.
Tex J. 'Sonny' Springer
MANTEE - Graveside funeral services for Tex J. "Sonny" Springer will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. The Rev. Johnny Davidson will officiate.
Welch Funeral Home of Starkville is handling the arrangements.
Mr. Springer died Monday, Jan. 23, 2006, at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. He was 77. A Mantee native and resident, he was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean conflict. He was the retired owner of Springer Motor Company.
Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Ursula Springer of Mantee; one daughter and son-in-law, Tammy and Kirk Howard of San Antonio, Texas; one son and daughter-in-law, Thomas J. and Becky Springer of Mantee; four grandchildren, Laura Andrews and her husband, Brad, Amy Howard, Ashley Howard and Michael P. Gray; and a special cousin, Beth Nell Glover.
Memorial donations may be made to the Mantee Baptist Church Building Fund, the Palmer Home for Children in Columbus or to the American Heart Association.
It was a nice service
Sorry to hear of Sonny's passing
I was only around Sonny once, back in the early 1960's. Alfie Taylor and I picked him up in Mississippi to go to a tournament in Georgia. Macon, GA, I think. I seem to recall he had a nickname at that time....The Mantee Raider? Anyway, I remember him as kind of quiet, but a real nice guy. I'm sorry to hear of his death.
I was only around Sonny once, back in the early 1960's. Alfie Taylor and I picked him up in Mississippi to go to a tournament in Georgia. Macon, GA, I think. I seem to recall he had a nickname at that time....The Mantee Raider? Anyway, I remember him as kind of quiet, but a real nice guy. I'm sorry to hear of his death.