‘Devastated’: WNBA Ivory Latta’s dad funeral at church after York schools nix gym bid

WNBA star and York school district alum Ivory Latta said she is “devastated” that the district denied her family’s request to hold her father’s funeral in a school gymnasium.

Officials in the South Carolina school district say that their policy, enacted in 2010, doesn’t allow its buildings to be used for funerals for anyone who is not a current student or employee. The policy also does not allow a body to lie in state in a school building.

The denial by the school district has created a firestorm of support for the family on Facebook, and requests -- including one from a York County Council member -- to allow the funeral in a school gymnasium.

Ivory Latta said her father, Charles, who died Tuesday, was the catalyst for her success and her desire to help others. Her father loved York and the school district, she said.

“We are having the service Saturday, one way or another,” Ivory Latta said early Thursday. “We still hope it can be at the gym, where my father told every young girl, every student, that he met that they too could be great and all they dreamed about,” she said.

The Latta family decided late Thursday afternoon to drop the request to use the gym at York Middle School. The family will use West End Baptist Church on McConnells Highway in Rock Hill for Saturday’s funeral. Visitation is from 11 a.m to noon Saturday, with the service at noon, family said.

The Herald reported first that Charles Latta, 67, died in a vehicle crash that happened Tuesday afternoon across U.S. 321 from York Middle School.

Chenna Latta, Charles Latta’s wife of 38 years, said Thursday dozens of churches and schools reached out to the family to offer a place for the funeral. When West End Baptist called, they knew it would be the right size and location, Chenna Latta said.

“It’s a beautiful church,” Ivory Latta said. “It’s kind of a short period of time for them to open their arms to us, but they read stories, they knew what my father did.”

York Middle School used to be the high school, and houses the “Cougar Dome” gym. The gym is where Ivory Latta starred and became South Carolina’s all-time leading basketball scorer. The Latta family asked that the funeral be held there, to honor Charles Latta’s assistance to other female athletes and students over decades.

“This is beyond disappointing. It is devastating for our family,” Ivory Latta said Thursday morning.

“That gym is where it all started, not just for me, but for my father,” Latta said. “He helped countless other girls and students to succeed. This is something we want to do for the memory of my dad, so the community can come together and share his life of service to all students in York.”

Ivory Latta said she wanted him to “go out where it all started, where he helped a lot of kids—not only me—a lot of kids just get through life...life is bigger than basketball.”

Chenna Latta said her husband touched the lives of many students on and off the court. He helped build self-esteem in children who needed extra help or who were in trouble.

“Is there anybody who has done as much as Charles has done for the kids?” Chenna Latta said Thursday. “Nobody could match what that man has done.”

Tim Cooper, spokesman for the school district, confirmed the district received the request and that it was denied.

“The only way for use of a facility is for a current employee or student,” Cooper said. “It is a district-wide policy and the superintendent can’t waive that policy.”

The district is led by interim superintendent Thomas Faulkenberry.

The York school board could take up the issue and discuss a potential change, he said. But as of late Thursday, no board members had made a request to discuss it, Cooper said.

But both Chenna and Ivory Latta said they believe the school district can change the rule to allow the funeral to be held at the “dome.”

“There is not a rule that cannot be broken or changed,” Chenna Latta said.

Ivory Latta, who went on to star at the University of North Carolina before her WNBA career, posted her frustration with the school district denial on her public Facebook page.

More than 160 people have commented.

That outrage reached York County Council member Allison Love, who formally asked the school district to allow the funeral, based on the Latta family’s contribution to the community.

Love sent an email to district officials Thursday morning, asking for a “special request” to allow a service at the school gym.

“In this case, the school board has the opportunity to do something better and greater than what any policy set out to do,” Love said. “This decision is about people, not policy. This is a community request about a man and family who have helped so many in York.”

Love represents the Clover and Lake Wylie area, but has family roots in York. She said she was contacted by “dozens of constituents” throughout York County, asking her to intercede and request that the school board grant a special exemption.

Love said that, as a council member and business owner, she understands “policy.” But she said this is an occasion that demands action to allow the community to honor Charles Latta and his family’s service.

Several York leaders, including York City Councilman Steve Love and York Mayor Eddie Lee, said Thursday that the school district should have allowed the funeral because of the Latta family’s contributions to the school and community.

“To me this was an easy choice- allow the funeral,” Love said.

Lee, the mayor, said Charles Latta and his family had dedicated a large part of their lives to York and its schools and people.

“The lives of people in York and its school system are better because of Charles Latta,” Lee said. “I saw it myself -- he volunteered hundreds of hours with others. Some rules are made to be changed. This is one of them. This is a chance for our community to come together in York and it should have happened.”

Ivory Latta and her family have received several community awards for their service, including Ivory Latta receiving a key to the city of York.

There are signs in the McConnells community outside York that say Ivory Latta is a native. Ivory Latta also was the grand marshal of York’s NAACP MLK parade in January 2018, and has written a children’s book.

She has held camps and other functions for children in York and York County as an adult.

This story was originally published August 2, 2018 at 11:04 AM.