Late El Dorado native and former NFL player Rance Olison is remembered for his passion for helping others.
Olison always kept his hometown in mind and close to his heart, having said that a close-knit community of family, neighbors and friends raised and molded him.
His mother, in particular, -- the late Carrie Kendrix Buggs -- instilled the importance of community service and giving back.
The foundation that was laid by Buggs helped Olison create a lifelong legacy of altruism that helped to launch several local community-service projects over the years, including an annual giveaway that helps local families put meat on the table for the holidays.
Now, to commemorate Olison, who died of heart complications in 2018 at the age of 65, and all that he did for the community, the city of El Dorado is dedicating a street in his honor.
The dedication ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in the Council Chamber of City Hall
A new street sign for East Avenue, just west of McKinney Park on East Beech Street, will include Olison's name.
The avenue lies in the heart of the Fairview Addition neighborhood where Olison grew up.
The dedication ceremony will be held Friday and the new street sign will be installed later, said Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer.
Smith-Creer said the ceremony was initially going to be held outside in the 800 block of Barnes, but with temperatures expected to hover near 90 degrees Friday, the event was moved indoors.
Olison's wife, Mary Olison of San Antonio, said Rance will also be honored during the 25th annual L.C. and Hazel Ross Memorial Scholarship Benefit Golf Tournament, which kicks off at 9 a.m. Friday at Lions Club Municipal Golf Course, 420 E. 19th St.
Rance helped to organize the annual golf tournament in recognition of the late couple, who were longtime educators in the El Dorado School District.
Mary said plans are already under way for the 2022 holiday meat giveaway, which is set for Dec. 3 at the American Legion Post 10, 105 Christian Drive.
The giveaway, which was launched in 2011, provides hams, turkeys, chicken leg quarters and game meat for hundreds of families in El Dorado and San Antonio.
A swimming pool and pool house in the San Antonio subdivision where Rance and his family lived were named in his honor following his death, Mary said.
She said the Union County Community Foundation has awarded a $2,000 grant to the Rance Olison Foundation, a nonprofit organization, to assist with the 2022 giveaway.
A gala and golf tournament are also scheduled in October in San Antonio to help raise money for the giveaway, Mary said.
The foundation is partnering with health agencies to promote heart health and has applied for a grant from the Arkansas Department of Health.
"If we get grant from the (ADH), we will be doing screenings, blood pressure checks and more during giveaway," Mary said. "Because Rance passed from heart problems, the (giveaway) is going to be a little different this year."
Rance was a 1971 graduate of El Dorado High School and he landed an athletic scholarship to play football at San Diego State University.
Olison earned a spot on the All-Conference team and was named the Most Inspirational Player.
After graduating from SDSU with a bachelor's degree in 1975, Rance, a cornerback, played with the short-lived World Football League.
He later signed as a free agent with the NFL, having been told by scouts and coaches that he was too small to play professional football.
Rance had brief stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.
He joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League before wrapping up his pro ball career in 1982 in the U.S. Football League.
He then returned to college and earned a second bachelor's degree in physical education and history from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Olison went on to teach, coach and serve as athletic director at the university and high school levels at schools in Arkansas (Crossett High School), Kansas and Texas.
He retired in 2009 from the San Antonio Independent School District.
Rance also coached his own minor league football team for a decade.
Following the 2008 election of President Barack Obama, Rance marked the historical moment by creating a booklet, titled "What the World Wants from Obama: Barack Obama's Souvenir Historical Guide from 1619 – 2008."
In 2014, he was welcomed into the American Football Hall of Fame.
He was a member of the National Football League Former Players Association, San Antonio-Austin chapter, where he served as president in 2015.