About the Foundation

I was born in Charleston WV and grew up in South Charleston. I graduated from South Charleston HS, where I played football and ran track. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from West Virginia University. Not thrilled at the prospect of working day in and day out in a laboratory, I returned to school at Fairmont State College to earn a teaching certificate so I could engage in both of my passions: science and sports. I have been employed and resided in Bridgeport since 1987.

I was a teacher and coach for over three decades at Bridgeport High School. In my time at Bridgeport High School, I taught Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physical Science, Earth Science, Computer Information, and Computer Programming. I served as the Head Boys Track & Field Coach for 32 years, the Head Girls and Boys Cross Country Coach for 13 years, the Assistant Freshmen Football Coach for 7 years, and the Head Freshmen Football Coach for 10 years. In my retirement, I continue to work as the Head Referee for the WV State Track & Field Championships, am a founding member of the Derek Hotsinpiller Fallen Stars 5K Race Committee, write a biweekly blog for Connect Bridgeport, and have been elected to Bridgeport City Council. This past October (2023) I was inducted into the Bridgeport High School Alumni and Friends Foundation Hall of Fame.

My wife, Heidi, a former BHS teacher and Harrison County Board Of Education administrator is now a corporate trainer for Agile 5 Technologies. I am blessed to have four successful children, all graduates of Bridgeport High School. Benjamin is a network cloud engineer for Leidos, Jonathan is a veterinarian in Pittsburgh, Jacob is the Associate City Engineer for the City of Bridgeport and Marinda is a traveling Radiology Technician. I also have two awesome BHS graduate daughters-in-law in the former Megan Thorne who is married to Ben and the former Ashton Nestor who is married to Jacob. Ben and his wife Megan, who is also a graduate of BHS, are the parents of my first grandchild, Ryan.