Centralia High School has named its Distinguished Alumni for 2024.
They are longtime coach and teacher Richard ‘Dick’ Carpenter of the Class of 1954 and former college basketball coach, Centralia Mayor, Executive Director of the Centralia Community Youth Center Herb Williams of the Class of 1963.
The two will be honored at a school assembly open to the public at 2:15 Friday afternoon, November 1st, and at a dinner that evening at the Centralia Cultural Society. Tickets to the dinner are $25 each or $200 for a table of eight.
To reserve tickets, you can contact Centralia High School at 618-532-7391 extension 3001 or via email to rshipley@centraliahs.org or kcopple@centraliahs.org.
Carpenter served as a coach at CHS for 42 years, the longest tenure in the high school’s history. He’s also credited with starting the wrestling program in 1967 and also served as assistant and head football coach and head baseball coach. Prior to starting at CHS, he served three years n the Marines as a Sergeant, played two years of Marines Football and four years of varsity football at SIU-C.
Williams taught at several high schools including Centralia and was the first minority coach in CHS history. He later went on to coach at Michigan State, Idaho State and Kaskaskia College, helped reestablish a community college district in East St. Louis before coming back to Centralia and serving as Mayor and Centralia Community Youth Center Executive Director.
The Distinguished Alumni became an annual event in 2008. The induction of Carpenter and Williams will bring the number of Distinguished to 47.
