Published: June 19, 2009 09:15 am      

Alto grad and LMC football signee killed in wreck

Staff Report

ALTO — Robert Kyle Denum was one of the first players to submit a National Letter of Intent to Lon Morris College this past April, signifying his decision to become a member of the school’s newly restored football team.

Denum will not be among the group of around 200 that will make up the first Bearcat football squad in over 60 years in August. Denum, 7, a 2009 graduate of Alto High School, died in the predawn hours of June 6 due to injuries he received in a single-vehicle wreck on State Highway 7 in Pollok.

According to a report issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Denum was driving west about 4:15 a.m. when his 2005 Dodge Ram left the roadway and struck a private drive. Upon striking the driveway Denum’s vehicle overturned, struck a tree and ejected Denum, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Denum was not wearing a seat belt, according to the report.

Denum, a running back and outside linebacker, played a key role in Alto’s playoff run during his senior year and was a member of the Yellowjackets’ back-to-back state championship teams (2006 and 2007).

During the Alto Sports Banquet, held May 25, Denum was awarded the Robert Brazino Outstanding Athlete Award.

He was an avid outdoorsman and a member of Hilltop Baptist Church

Denum was the son of Staci and Spencer Smith of Alto and Lee and Laronda Denum of Lufkin.

A scholarship fundfor Alto students is being created in memory of Denum Donations may be made at any branch of the First Bank and Trust.