Page 12 - Dresden Buzz 07-12-24

PAGE 12 | SPORTS JULY 12 - 25, 2024
Jack Anderson was a true Tri-Valley – and Jefferson –

High School legend… and still is by Gregg Meadows

He was the school’s leader when of 53 – just a year after TVHS students
they needed one, hired by and called moved into their new building, but his
to duty by Jefferson High School super- unforgettable legacy most definitely
intendent Norbert Kurtz in the fall of lives on.
1962 – and coincidently – at the same A few generations have come and
time that the Jefferson Jayhawks cag- gone since the passing of legendary Jef-
ers tipped off their back-to-back state ferson High and TVHS principal Jack An-
title journey that derson. And many of
put Dresden on the the thousands who
map. have frequented the
He was most Scottie football sta-
instrumental in the dium that bears his
consolidation and name over the past
transition of bring- few decades, proba-
ing three rural - and bly knew nothing of
rival - school dis- the great man who
tricts (and commu- absolutely defined
nities) together into the word – respect.
one entity, in the fall So in the fall
of 1966, as the new of 2007, that quan-
Tri-Valley School Dis- dary was corrected,
trict took root. as a large plaque THAT 1940’S LOOK!
Jack Anderson, football coach (undated and unidentified players, but check out those leather helmets!)
And that was a with the infamous Submitted
major act of work, portrait of Anderson
as the meshing of that has hung in the High School for a few years. that may never be seen again.
three established school’s Commons Anderson was drafted into the U.S. Just ask any of the hundreds of stu-
and decades old Area for four de- Army, performing a tour of duty in the fi- dents whose lives he affected… they’ll
standing school dis- cades (with an ac- nal years of WWII. At the completion of tell you.
tricts – who’d butted companying biogra- his military service, Jack picked up right Lillette (Corder) Holdren, a 1966 Jef-
heads competitively phy) was dedicated where he left off in the education and ferson High School graduate and long-
on the athletics at the season home coaching field, leaving his hometown to time Tri-Valley Schools administrative
fields and in their own communities as opener, with Jack Anderson’s daughter teach and coach football at Mt. Vernon employee, describes her principal and
well – were asked to forget their differ- Ann Leppla on hand for the rededication High School in 1945-46. former boss Jack Anderson as “a man
ences and join as one to form a new ceremony. He actually had a short stint in Dres- who gave strength to the weak, self-con-
high school education center under one But still - 17 years from that obser- den at Jefferson High School in the early fidence to the insecure, and reprimand
roof for area prep students in northern vance – and 52 years removed from 1940’s as a teacher and coach as well. to the deserving.”
Muskingum County. when the stadium originally was chris- Anderson left the academia world Former students remember the
And Anderson got to see the proud tened as ‘Jack Anderson Stadium’ (An- man they called ‘Mr Anderson’ as a gi-
looks on the student’s faces when they derson’s late wife Marie was on hand for ant of a man – gruff somewhat on the
moved from the old Jefferson High (built an emotional ceremony on the stadium exterior, but owner of a most generous
in 1922) into a shiny new Tri-Valley High floor in the 1972 Scottie home football heart that was filled with love for family,
School in the fall of 1970. opener) and 62 years from when the friends, school….and football.
Sadly, Jack Anderson passed away personable, giant of a man took the Another former student with fond
on October 16, 1971 at the young age reins of Jefferson High School, most of memories of Jack Anderson is Nancy
the fans and families that converge on (Lapp) Cameron. Nancy is a 1970 TVHS
the facility that bears his name, know graduate, and just like her good friend
little of the man who moved mountains Lillette Holdren, was a former cheer-
to bring three separate school districts leader and secretary in the high school
and communities together to form the office as well who remembers her prin-
present day Tri-Valley Schools District. cipal - and later boss - in glowing terms.
And he did all of that with three dis- “Just saying his name brings a smile
tinct qualities – strong character, strong to my face and brings back a flood of
will, and an infectious sense of humor. memories, says Cameron. “Consolidat-
So….for the present day Tri-Valley ing the Adamsville, Frazeysburg and
Schools district moms and dads, and Dresden school districts into one was
students – and many surrounding area not an easy task, and the hardest job fell
residents, here’s a capsuled look at Mr. to the high school principal. There was
Jack Anderson. no one more qualified for the position
John Pilling ‘Jack’ Anderson was than Jack Anderson.”
born on June 25, 1918 in his native Co- “Mr. Anderson had the ability to in-
shocton, Ohio, the son of parents Lou stantly connect with every student and
and Irma Pilling Anderson. cared about our emotional well-being
He was a 1936 graduate of Coshoc- as much as our academics. Change is
ton High School where he was a stand- often difficult, but he gained the respect
out football and basketball player, and of the staff, the student body, and the
academic success as well for the Red- community. Jack was the guy that got it
skins. Anderson was president of his in 1951 to take a position with Stone going and the glue that held it all togeth-
freshman and junior classes, president Container, back in Coshocton. er; it only took a year or two for school
of the Latin Club, and a member of the After 10 years of supporting his fam- spirit and loyalty to our alma mater to
school’s Honor Society. ily as a factory worker at Stone Container rise back to the top!”
He excelled on the gridiron as well in Coshocton from 1951-61, Anderson “After graduation,” Cameron contin-
at Georgetown College in Kentucky, and tired of the monotony of the industrial ues, “I had the privilege of working for
received his Bachelor’s Degree in Educa- grind and headed back to the classroom him and with him and got to see another
tion from there in 1941. He later earned in the winter of 1962, taking a position side of his personality. His sense of hu-
a Master’s Degree in Education from with Newark City Schools from January mor and love of practical jokes made
Ohio State University in 1952. to May as an educator, then applying for going to work FUN every day! He often
Anderson met his wife Marie while – and getting – an administrative posi- set a cup of water above the office door
in college at Georgetown; the couple tion in Muskingum County in Dresden, to “surprise” the UPS driver when he
married in 1943 and were blessed with replacing principal George Stanford as opened it to come in!
Jack Anderson, Coshocton High School senior the birth of their daughter Ann, in 1951. the Jefferson High School principal. “When I walk into Jack Anderson
basketball pic. After graduating from Georgetown And for the next nine years, Jack An- Stadium on football Friday nights, I al-
Note the laces on the basketball! College, Anderson returned to his native
Submitted Coshocton and taught – and coached derson ruled first, Jefferson High, then ways think of him and am reminded
football and basketball – at Coshocton Tri-Valley High School in a manner such how much he loved football, the student