Johnny Black’s life story should be titled, “Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker—Limestone style.”

Black, 65, who has been officially retired and living in Athens since 2003, held several jobs over the years: coach, high school principal, Athens City Councilman, city school board member and County Commission chairman.

His present pursuits are “news junkie” and “John-Daddy” to five lively grandchildren.

“I tell my boys, if they had been this sweet, I would have loved them more,” said Black of his grandchildren.

Son Brody, who is married to the former Pamela Glaze of Athens, lives in Birmingham and has three children. Son Scott lives in Madison, Miss., and has two children.

He also plays a little golf. “I look forward to going golfing and I look forward to getting through and going home, so it’s a double thrill,” he said.

The first of the many hats Black wore was that of a football, basketball and track coach. While at Clements High School in 1966,’67,’68, and ’72, the Clements football team won the Class1A football championship in 1966 and the Class 1A basketball championship in 1967, he said.

He also coached at Athens from 1975-77, and Ardmore from 1977-79. In 1979, Black went to Tanner High School as assistant principal, a position he held for five years before being named principal, a post in which he served for the next seven years.

Black served on the Athens City Council from 1976-80, the last two years spent as council president. Next, he served on the Athens City Board of Education from 1982-85.

“I resigned from the school board when I became principal of Tanner, because I figured I had just way too much schooling—or school affairs.”

In 1990 Black was elected Limestone County Commission chairman, an office he held from 1991 through 1994. And then Black retired the first time.

But his first retirement, marked by a several-month stint in sales for Lane’s Sporting Goods, was short-lived. The state Department of Education called and he couldn’t refuse their offer of a principal’s post in south Alabama.

Black served as principal for “at risk” students at Camden Middle School in Wilcox County, and then as principal of Greenville High School in Butler County. He said he had always heard negative things about south Alabama, but came to feel “folks down there are just like they are in Limestone County. South Alabama is some different, but I made a lot of friends while I was there.”

That brings the story up to Black’s, as yet, last retirement. He says he still misses education, but coaching was his least favorite of activities, not because of the athletes, but rather the hours involved.

“I used to think that when you were a coach it was all just daytime work, and I wouldn’t have minded that. But all those after-school hours get old. Most people’s days are over when they leave work, but a coach’s goes on. I thought I would never get tired of high school athletics, but I did.”

These days Black says he does “pretty much as I please,” but a lot of his time is spent reading and, “I watch more network news than anybody.” While Black makes no secret of being a “yellow dog,” he said he switches the channel to Fox News once in a while, “just to see what the other side is doing.”

But one senses a restlessness in Black that frequent visits to grandchildren doesn’t quite quell.

“When you retire, you really miss holidays and weekends,” he said. “Because everyday is a holiday.”