Bio

Having served on Cowley County Community College’s Board of Trustees for 22 years, and being a long-time supporter of Tiger Athletics, Dr. Charles Kerr will be inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame on February 7.

During Dr. Kerr’s time on Cowley’s Board of Trustees, the institution grew dramatically in size and enrollment. The Charles D. Kerr Business and Technology Building on campus was named in his honor by the Board of Trustees. The dedication ceremony took place on Oct. 7, 1993.

Dr. Kerr’s wife, Mary, said her late husband got a great deal of enjoyment out of attending Tiger sporting events.

"He enjoyed being around all phases of the college," Mary Kerr said.

Dr. Kerr died Oct. 14, 1998, at the age of 78.

During his time as a member of Cowley’s Board of Trustees, Tiger athletic teams flourished. The Cowley tennis team captured 16 Region VI titles and two national championships (1989 and 1991). Women’s basketball won 10 Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division titles, and the men’s basketball team won four Jayhawk East titles. The volleyball team captured two conference championships and a Region VI title, while setting school records for consecutive victories (27) and in a season (43). The football team competed in its only two bowl games in school history; and Cowley’s softball team won five Jayhawk East titles.

Cowley president, Dr. Pat McAtee, has fond memories of Dr. Kerr.

"Charlie and his wife Mary were great supporters of Tiger athletics," McAtee said. "He was a dyed in the wool Tiger. He was one of the best board of trustee members with which I had the pleasure to work with. He was a kind and gentle human being who had the utmost integrity. I miss him greatly."

Kerr was a 1937 graduate of Mahaska rural High School, where he played on the only six-man football team in the state of Kansas.

A veteran of World War II, he served four years with the U.S. Army in England, France, Belgium, and Germany. Following discharge in 1946, he married Mary Jane Graham on Dec. 28, 1949, at Mahaska.

Charles received his bachelors degree in social science from the College of Emporia in 1951, and completed his masters degree in school administration at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia in 1954. His first professional teaching assignment was with the Lathan schools, where he served as elementary principal, teacher and coach. The Kerrs later moved to Peabody, where he served as elementary principal before being appointed superintendent of schools. He served as superintendent at Peabody until 1961, when the family moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he completed his doctorate of education degree in 1963.

In 1962, the Kerrs moved to Winfield, where Charles became professor of teacher education at Southwestern College. He also served as chairman of the Division of Social Sciences for three years. In 1970, he began employment at Winfield State Hospital & Training Center as program director, and he wrote the original grant for the extremely successful Foster Grandparent Program. He retired from WSH&TC in 1985, following 15 years service.

A member of First Presbyterian Church in Winfield, he had served as a Ruling Elder for many years, and had served as Commissioner to both the Presbytery and General Assembly.

He was a dedicated member of the Winfield Kiwanis Club for more than 27 years, where he had served as president, Division VII Lt. Governor, and Kansas Kiwanis Foundation Board member. He was chairman and member of the Board of the American Red Cross several terms, and had served as the local Red Cross military service contact for a number of years. Charter Organization representative for the Presbyterian Church Boy Scout Troop, he was honored with a Winfield First Citizen Award in June 1997.