Dr. William E. “Bill” Lockhart

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. William Edward "Bill" Lockhart. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 9, 2022 in Overland Park, Kansas just a few weeks short of his ninety-second birthday.

Bill was born February 6, 1930 in Mascot, Tennessee. He was the son of Hazel Jackson Lockhart and Albert R. "A.R." Lockhart. A.R. owned an independent drilling company and had relocated from eastern Kansas – western Missouri to do test drilling for American Lead and Zinc. After several prosperous years the onset of the depression necessitated a move with their two older boys and their infant son back near Hazel's family home in Lynn County, Kansas.

Bill "Billie" had two brothers: A.R. "Al" Lockhart Jr. and Jack Lockhart. Growing up in the small Lynn County community of Parker his brother Al described him as "the neighborhood kid" who did not know a stranger.

Billie did everything early including starting first grade as a five year old and working on his uncle's and grandparent's farms as a child. He milked his grandmother's cow as he put it "twice a day, every day of the year" providing milk for the families and a little pocket change for himself.

He worked at the family business, Lockhart's Station which was a combination gas station, garage, and parts store. His entrepreneurial side showed up early. He started a candy and soda concession as a teenager, often depleting his earnings to satisfy his notorious sweet tooth. During the summers he would sell tires, a lot of tires, to help pay for his college education.

Besides excelling in school, working on the farms, and helping with his parent's newly-founded business, he was always making new friends. During his elementary school years, one encounter involved a cute, new girl who had moved to town. They passed each other on the sidewalk and he said "Hello". She stuck her tongue out at him. After that inauspicious start Edrei Louise Sweet would eventually become the love of his life. She somewhat sheepishly explained fifty years later, "well, we hadn't been introduced". Later, they became inseparable. They regularly were assigned the leads in their high school musicals. They married in 1950 and had four children: Gary, Jean, Jim, and Ed. Bill loved Edrei to the last, carefully caring for her during her difficult final years.

A life-long-learner and voracious reader, Bill started his teaching career early. He taught elementary school as an eighteen-year-old on a one year provisional certificate. Working and going to college (with many summer school and night school semesters), he earned a Bachelors  Degree from Pittsburg State University, a Masters degree from Arizona State University, and his doctorate from Kansas State University.

Along the way he taught at different elementary schools including a short time at a one-room schoolhouse in central Kansas – an experience he very much enjoyed. He relished working with learners of all ages but seemed to have a special affinity for fifth and sixth graders. He would fill in where necessary even turning a hapless junior high aged basketball team into perennial winners. He served as an elementary school principal in Kansas and Arizona – always a stickler for academic achievement he supported classroom teachers and helped them be their very best.

In a rural Mohawk Valley Elementary School in southwest Arizona  he encountered a problem he had not really seen before — hunger. With few resources he managed to help feed hungry kids, upgrade teaching and academic standards, hire excellent teachers, implement classroom music as well as form a school band, choir, and drum and bugle corps. Also, the school's sports teams started winning games due in no small part to his efforts.

There was little or no suitable housing available for teachers in this remote area of the state. He contacted his local legislators, including the state senator from Yuma county and worked with them to sponsor legislation that allowed a school district to build housing for employees. Those houses and duplexes are still in use today over fifty years later.

After teaching for a short time in the San Francisco bay area the family moved back to Kansas where Bill was the Superintendent of Schools in Montezuma in Gray County, Kansas. There he emphasized excellence in many areas but especially academics. His practice was to hire the very best teachers he could and do everything he could to assist them. He said that sometimes he thought of himself as a high-powered teacher's aid. An advocate of careful testing and evaluation, he closely monitored student progress and made sure that necessary adjustments were made to insure an optimal academic experience for students in his schools.

Bill resigned his position as superintendent to begin his doctoral studies at Kansas State University. After completing the requirements of the program he began a position as an Assistant Professor for the Division of Continuing Education at KSU.

At the Division he had many responsibilities including administering a joint program with Kansas State and the United States Army where over three thousand adults earned their high school General Education Diploma using entirely materials that he wrote and published. He counseled hundreds of young men, often troubled young men. The conversations usually started with "Doc may I talk with you?" Many sought further education and training after encouragement from Dr. Lockhart.

After retirement from Kansas State he accepted a position with the American Institute of Baking as Director of Communications. He, early on, saw the possibilities for video -based instruction. Authoring and producing industrial videos for a number of business members.

He was an educator who taught, influenced, and mentored thousands of students of all ages over his fifty year career.

A loving and devoted husband, an excellent father, a proud grandfather and great-grandfather he will be missed by many.

Rest in peace, Bill Lockhart.