For nearly 30 football seasons, Dr. Hugh McLeod was a Friday night fixture at Walton High School in east Cobb County, poised to attend to injured limbs or strained muscles whenever the Raiders took the field. He'll be memorialized there tonight.
Walton's longtime team doctor died Friday at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, after a battle with leukemia. He was 61.
At 7 tonight, Walton High School, where the sports medicine complex is named in McLeod's honor, will host a service in his memory. The event will be held in the football stadium and will feature performances from Walton's chorus and orchestra and remarks from speakers including family, friends and Walton principal Judy McNeill.
"It'll be a good night for Walton," football coach Rocky Hidalgo said. "I think it's what Hugh would have wanted."
The two spoke about a month ago.
"He told me he just wanted to get back on the sidelines one more time," Hidalgo said.
Coaches learned of McLeod's death early Friday and shared the sad news with the team prior to that night's game against Lassiter High School.
"I felt like he was with us last Friday," Hidalgo said. The Raiders won, 34-10.
A native of Hattiesburg, Miss., McLeod graduated from the University of Mississippi and completed medical school there. After a surgical internship at the University of Utah and orthopaedic residency at Georgia Baptist Medical Center (now the Atlanta Medical Center) and Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center (now part of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta), he completed a post-residency appointment as an orthopaedic fellow in adult joint reconstructive surgery at Royal London Hospital. His tenure at Walton, where his daughter graduated before heading to the University of Georgia, began simply.
"I walked onto the Walton practice field, introduced myself to Tommy Marshall [Walton's first football coach] and asked if he'd want a team orthopedic," McLeod told the AJC in an interview last year.
The founder of Atlanta Orthopaedic Specialists and the longtime medical director of the BellSouth Golf Classic (now the AT&T Classic), McLeod was a prominent member of Atlanta's philanthropic community.
"He made every moment count. He used all of his time and talents and the power of his influence to help others," said Jane Dean, who's being honored at an Oct. 24 luncheon benefiting the juvenile diabetes organization Camp Kudzu. Leslie McLeod is one of the event's co-chairs.
"Hugh had a great passion for life and it showed in everything he did," Dean said. "He was a caring physician, great family man and a wonderful friend. He really took advantage of his life on earth and truly lived a life that matters."
In October 2007, the annual Crystal Ball, which benefits the Arthritis Foundation's Georgia chapter, honored Hugh and Leslie McLeod for their years of support. Kristen Gibbs, who chaired the event with her husband, Duncan, arranged a surprise video tribute to the McLeods to be played that night.
"Leading up to that ball, I discovered so many things about Hugh, a dedicated doctor, a trusted friend, a devoted husband and father," Kristen Gibbs recalled. "What impressed me the most was the partnership between Leslie and Hugh. They complemented each other perfectly. "
Last fall, Walton High School arranged its own video tribute to McLeod. The team played the clip before a September 2010 home game, and streamed it so McLeod could watch online.
"Walton's been wonderful to me and it's been great to be a part of their program, " McLeod told the AJC last year. "It's been a great ride."
If you go
The memorial service for Dr. Hugh McLeod will be held at 7 tonight at Walton High School football stadium, 1590 Bill Murdock Road, Marietta.
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