North Jefferson News, Gardendale, AL

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March 15, 2010

Jerry W. Motte, 1941-2010: True Blue

Jordan ‘superfan’ was a constant presence

By Robert Carter The North Jefferson News

The man down along the fence by the goal posts in the end zone by the main gate at Jimmie Trotter Stadium won’t be there in body anymore. But he will be there in spirit.

Jerry Willard Motte, the “superfan” present at countless Mortimer Jordan sports events, passed away Sunday after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 68.

Motte was memorialized in services Thursday as not only a huge fan of Blue Devils sports, but one of the best-known figures in the Alabama music scene, having served as a club owner and concert promoter for more than three decades.

“I told Mrs. Snider [Jordan principal Barbara Snider] that I’d like to buy that section of fence he stood along,” Jon Paul Motte said. The younger Motte was the quarterback for the Blue Devils from 2005 to 2007.

While Jerry Motte was always a big supporter of Jordan’s football team, he grew close to the softball team as well, even though Motte’s daughter’s didn’t play.

“He’d take off in the afternoon to go watch them. He started off just going to watch, and then he got to know them real well. He’d even travel with Police Chief Brian Cochran to away games.”

“I think he liked us because he always liked to promote things that were good as a music promoter,” Devils softball coach Laura Rickman said. “He and Carl [assistant football coach and Laura’s husband] had a good relationship.”

Rickman’s team was decidedly downcast when they played Monday afternoon, their first game after Jerry Motte’s death. Flags beyond the outfield fence were lowered to half staff.

“They knew how sick he was, but they know Jerry is with the Lord. Every time we saw him, Jerry never complained,” Rickman said.

Motte was well known to musicians throughout the South, as both a nightclub owner and a concert promoter. He worked with acts from Jerry Lee Lewis to comedian Jerry Clower, from Garth Brooks to Van Halen, and from Little Jimmy Dickens to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

“He had a lot of odd jobs,” Jon Paul Motte said. “He was an auctioneer, and he was a preacher at a Baptist church on Highway 78 in Walker County. Then he became a bodyguard for Jerry Lee Lewis, and worked his way up. He owned several nightclubs in Birmingham, but then he got a family and decided he didn’t want to be involved with the late nights anymore.”

Jerry Motte continued his Artists Management Service until his illness prevented him from working. Jon Paul Motte took the business over, having been by his father’s side on many concert trips over the years.

Jerry Motte, who was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2006, was buried Thursday in Oakwood Gardens in Gardendale.

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