Coach Charles LeRoy “Roy” McWilliams, 80, of Ty Ty passed away Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at his residence. His funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, September 4, 2026, in the Sanctuary of Tifton’s First Baptist Church with the Rev. Andres Newsome and the Rev. Mike Faulk officiating. Coach Roy will be laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Thursday, September 3, 2026, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Ken Dunn, Ryan Branch, Buddy Cawley, Zack Waldrop, Don Jarrett and Tucker Jarrett will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be all former coaches and football players, who Coach Roy coached with and for, as well as his Fraternity brothers from the Kappa Alpha Fraternity.
Born June 16, 1946, in Macon, Coach McWilliams was the son of the late Albert Orel McWilliams and Louise Margaret Hollis McWilliams. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one brother, Robert Preston; a niece, Julie McWilliams; and a nephew, Sam McWilliams.
Coach Roy graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in the Class of 1964, where he played as a half-back #42. After high school, he went on to Georgia Southern University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in German, which he taught in high school. He was a charter member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity.
His coaching career began in 1968 as a Junior High and High School baseball and High School football coach. They won the AAA State Championship in 1975 at Central-Macon. In 1976, he came to Tifton with Coach Gene Brodie and was the Offensive Coordinator for 17 years until 1990. In 1979, Tift County defeated Valdosta twice, captured the Region Championship and advanced to play for the State Championship. In 1983, the Blue Devils brought home the State Championship.
The Tift Touchdown Club noted that his impact “went far beyond Friday nights. He also spent many years as an assistant baseball coach and took tremendous pride in helping improve the facilities that generations of Blue Devils would call home, including Brodie Field, the field house, and the weight room.” He was inducted into the Tift County Athletic Hall of Fame in 2023.
The Touchdown Club said, “Championships are remembered. Facilities can stand for generations, but a coach’s greatest legacy is found in the countless young people, fellow coaches, families, and communities whose lives were better because he was part of them.
Coach Roy was a true “Blue Devil” and committed to Tift County and Blue Devil athletics. He was also a member of Tifton’s First Baptist Church.
Coach Roy leaves behind to cherish his memory his wife, Sylvia Vickers McWilliams of Ty Ty; two sons, Brad McWilliams and Henry McWilliams, both of Tifton; two granddaughters, Georgia McWilliams and Nevaeh “Vae” McWilliams; a brother-in-law and his wife, Ashley and Christie Vickers; a sister-in-law, Carolyn McWilliams; his nieces and nephews and their spouses, Tracy and John Shaw, Cal and Victoria Vickers, and Caroline Vickers; and several great-nieces and great nephews.