Leon Conway

 “Coach” Leon Conway

A “Celebration of Life” honoring the life and legacy of Coach Leon Conway, beloved coach (educator), father, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend will be held on Saturday, January 3, 2026, at one p.m. at St. John Missionary Baptist Church. Rev. Steven R. Conley will serve as the officiant. Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. prior to the service. The interment will follow in H. V. Adams Cemetery. To send flowers, cards, light a candle, or words of condolence, kindly follow the directions to the left.

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Family and friends are urged to turn on emergency flashers as we travel to Coach’s final resting place.

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They Called Him “Coach”

Saturday, July 17, 1937, dawned hot and humid in the small hamlet of Oak Ridge, Louisiana. McKinley Conway, along with other farmers in the area, had finished another grueling week of planting in preparation for fall harvesting. As he prepared to take care of his neglected chores around the house, he heard a great deal of “commotion” in the house. His wife, Mattie, was great with their fourth child. was about to deliver! And deliver she did. McKinley and Mattie Conway were blessed with their third boy. They named him“Leon, “a powerful symbol of courage, strength, and nobility.” Little did they know that he would grow up and symbolize the adjectives that so aptly described him.

When Leon was seven, McKinley moved his family from Oak Ridge to “The Booker T neighborhood" in Monroe. Leon and his siblings attended Carroll High School. His amazing athletic ability in football and basketball earned him scholarships to HBCU's across the state.  He was invited to visit Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. But Coach Eddie Robinson of THE Grambling College Tigers found out about this multi-talented “kid” from Carroll High School. They met and Coach Rob convinced Leon that Southern was too far from home, and he just didn’t need to go that far. Well, the rest is history. Leon Conway officially enrolled and became a Grambling Tiger,  a title he wore with pride as evidenced by his Grambling jackets, shirts, pants, caps, and anything that carried the GSU logo.

In 1965, he graduated from Grambling State University with degrees in Social Studies, Health, Physical, and Safety Education. Leon received his Masters+30 from Northeast Louisiana State University in 1976. He was one of the most beloved Drivers’ Education teachers the area, teaching and nurturing young students as they navigated the streets of Morehouse Parish.

He was hired as a teacher/coach at Union High School in Mer Rouge, LA. In spite of his teaching and coaching responsibilities at Union High, Leon developed a romantic interest in a young lady from South Louisiana. Teachers and students could feel the floor shaking, and they KNEW Coach Conway was on his way to Miss McCarter’s class. The courtship between Leon Conway and Lillie McCarter flourished. On June 29, 1968, with family and friends in attendance, Lillie Beatrice McCarter became Mrs. Leon Conway. On August 2, 1969, Leon and Lillie welcomed the “light of their lives,” a beautiful baby girl. They named her Laronica Lynn. Laronica, lovingly called “Bud, by her dad, enjoyed hanging out in her mom’s room and looking at animals in formaldehyde or her dad’s office before and after football games. She pursued a degree in marketing and sports medicine because of her exposure to the professional worlds of her parents.

Leon and his family were members of the St. John Missionary Baptist Church. He was a member of the prestigious Class 16 Sunday School group, also known as “renegades.” He was also a member of his beloved Grambling Alumni Association – Morehouse Chapter.

On Saturday, December 27, 2025, in the early morning hours, Leon Conway, coach, educator, father, brother, cousin, and friend quietly left this world as we know it, bound for his new home in Glory. Preceding him in death were his loving wife of forty-three years: Lillie B. Conway; his parents, Mattie and McKinley Conway, and two siblings: Willie Fitch and Flintroy Conway.

Cherishing his memory, his laughter, his jokes, his tender heart, and genuine love for people are: his devoted daughter: Laronica Lynn Conway, Birmingham, AL, his siblings: Vallie Jackson, and Melvin Conway (Maurice), Monroe, LA, Jeanette Lenoir, Inglewood, CA, and Conolies (Tee) Conway (Jeanette), Monroe, LA, nieces, nephews, friends, and students who will always remember the gentle giant they called “Coach!”

“Rest, Coach, Rest!”

In the words of Coach Leon Conway as he left his tour in Germany:

“Auf Wiedersehen”

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Leon Conway, please visit our floral store.