If one were to sit back and look at any Mansfield Tiger football game, volleyball game, baseball game, softball game, little league game, pep rally, cheerleading competition, or any other school event, they would notice one common denominator. Mr. Ronnie Black! Mr. Black is the true definition of what it means to bleed red. Born in Huntington, he has spent his entire adolescent and adult life living in Mansfield. Ronnie prides himself in being a Tiger even recalling a time when he and his friends would ride their bikes down the town’s dirt roads after Little League Baseball to buy penny candy at the local drugstore.
A carpenter most of his life, Mr. Black currently holds the Maintenance Supervisor position at Mansfield Schools which he has succeeded in doing for the past 12 years. He was also a Mansfield school board member for 10 years. “I’ve seen a lot of changes at Mansfield Schools but one thing has never changed,” Ronnie explains. “We still have the best kids in the state.” Married for 46 years, Ronnie and his wife Wanda have two kids and four grandkids who are the center of their universe.
Playing football and basketball in school, Ronnie now fills his days by watching his grandkids play sports. But the most heartwarming part is that it doesn’t even have to be his grandkids that are playing. Ronnie literally considers every kid from kindergarten to twelfth grade as one of his own. Always ready to cheer on and support his beloved Tigers. But when he’s not hootin’ and hollerin’, Mr. Black is an avid reader who also enjoys making things.
Also working for the Mansfield School District are both of his daughters, Angie Morris and Kandis Howard. When asked to describe her dad, Mrs. Howard had this to say, “He is a man of his word. He is the most hard-working man I know always going out of his way to help someone. He is a perfectionist who is very focused and driven in life. But he is also a big cut-up who enjoys pranking people. He has multiple costumes he might show up in at any moment!”
Ronnie Black has put in many long hours helping the Mansfield Little League Football Program and on November 2, they wanted to make sure that he knew his hard work hadn’t gone unnoticed. Ronnie spent every home game showing up early to get things in order and staying late to collect trash and close up shop. The program was a success this past season thanks in part to his positive encouragement towards the players and his willingness to always volunteer to step up to the plate and get things done.
So they wanted to say thank-you by giving him a piece of hand-made woodwork that had been donated to the program. “It was the very least that we could do,” expressed one little league parent. “Mr. Black deserves so much more than we could ever give him for his unwavering commitment to all Tiger programs. I don’t think people truly understand how incredible this man is and the immense length behind the scenes that he goes to supporting the community that he loves.”
