Coolidge Unified School District No. 21

Biography of David P. Anderson
CHS Hall of Fame Class of 2019

Dr. Anderson was born to Gene and Delphia Anderson in 1965.  He graduated in 1983 as valedictorian of his high school class and also served as District FFA President, State FFA Vice President, President of the National Honor Society, and Letterman’s Club.  During high school, he also participated in band, including the FFA National Band, and track; Boys’ State; and received the John Philip Sousa Award.

David received a BS and MS in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arizona, graduating with distinction.  He earned his Ph.D., in the same field, from Texas A & M University in College Station, TX.

Dr. Anderson is currently a professor in the Agricultural Economics Department at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.  His research focuses on livestock markets and the economic impact of government policy in agriculture. 

Dr. Anderson has received almost 20 awards during his illustrious career for extension programs, interdisciplinary research, and teaching effectiveness.  He has received awards from the American, Western, and Southern Agricultural Economics Associations for Distinguished Extension Programs and for Distinguished Policy Contributions.  Among those honors are Professional Excellence from the American Agricultural Economics Association, the Outstanding Extension Program Award from the Western and Southern Agricultural Economics Associations, and the TAMU Deputy Chancellor’s Distinguished Performance Team Award for Research and Extension. 

Dr. Anderson has authored or co-authored more than 800 hundred articles, ranging from academic journals to popular press articles.  He has published 7 books.   He has presented over one thousand times internationally, nationally, state, and county-wide and can be heard on NPR radio.  He attributes his public speaking skills in part to his time at Coolidge High School.

David and his wife Lara have two children, Morgan and Ryan. 

Biography of Robert (Bob) Hendrie
CHS Hall of Fame Class of 2019

Robert J. (Bob) Hendrie was born in Mt. Pleasant, MI, and moved to Coolidge, AZ in July 1949 with his parents, Jay and Evelyn Hendrie. He enrolled in the Intermediate School and started high school in the McCray building and graduated from the “new” high school in 1957. While attending high school, Bob played baseball for two years and was in the Letterman’s Club. After attending college at Arizona State University, he returned to Coolidge to work full-time for the family-owned business, Hendrie Buick Pontiac & GMC. During his time there, he was a car salesman, service manager, and finally co-owner. Hendrie Buick was the oldest consecutively owned and operated Buick dealership west of the Mississippi, from 1949 to 1999 and received several awards from General Motors. The Hendrie family took great pride in helping Coolidge Public Schools in any way possible, including lending vehicles for homecoming events, pick-up trucks to the Agriculture Department, providing on a rotating basis a car for the superintendent to drive. In February 1999, Bob retired, sold the dealership, and moved to Payson. He worked as a security officer for Mazatzal Casino from May 2005 to February 2011.

Bob was extremely active in the community of Coolidge. He served on the Coolidge School Board for a total of 9 years, with one term as secretary and two terms as President. He and Jim Barber played a significant role in the purchase of a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles, which transported CHS students to sporting events for many years. Bob served on the City of Coolidge Library Board from 1968 to 1974 and was on the board when the current library on Central Avenue was built in 1969. In December of 1985, the Coolidge City Council appointed Bob to serve on the Coolidge Planning and Zoning Commission.

Bob served in the Army National Guard 1958-1966 Company B First Battalion 158^th Infantry Division, Platoon Sergeant. Sergeant E-7 First Class.

In addition to serving almost a decade on the Coolidge Unified School District Governing Board, Bob was a member of the Coolidge Chamber of Commerce, Coolidge Florence Elks Lodge, Coolidge Jaycees’ serving two terms as president, Boy Scout Master of Troop 97, and was in the Coolidge DeMolay. He also enjoyed being on the American Legion Baseball team. Bob is married to Ginger Brown Hendrie, Class of 1957. They have three children, Jacque Henry, Shari McHugh, and Michele Kempton, all CHS graduates, and 5 grandchildren.  

Biography of Ricky LaPaglia
CHS Hall of Fame Class of 2019

Ricky LaPaglia is a 1995 Coolidge High School graduate. Born and raised in Coolidge, Ricky attended Coolidge Schools from kindergarten through high school and continues to make his home in Coolidge. He was an honor roll student and member of the National Honor Society. Ricky was a participant in Drama and Yearbook while at CHS as well.

As an athlete, Ricky lettered in football, basketball, and baseball three times each. He was also a three-year starter on the varsity basketball and baseball teams. Ricky was selected as an All-Region and All-State Performer in football as a quarterback and in baseball as an outfielder. Ricky holds a lifetime pass to all Coolidge High School home sporting events for obtaining 9 varsity letters while at CHS.

After attending Central Arizona College and Scottsdale Community College, Ricky earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, followed by graduate school at Northern Arizona University. After college, he taught for Coolidge Unified before going to work for The City of Coolidge Parks and Recreation Department.

Ricky spent many years coaching in the Coolidge school system, including junior high football, basketball, baseball, and softball, as well as coaching baseball and basketball at CHS. He was also an integral part of the coaching staff when the Bears brought home back-to-back basketball State Championships in 1998 and 1999.

In addition to junior high and high school sports, Ricky coached Senior League Baseball for Coolidge Little League for three years and was selected to coach All-Star teams each year.

Starting as a Recreation Coordinator, Ricky is now the Community Services Director for Coolidge. His responsibilities include City Parks, Recreation Programs, The Adult Center, City Pool, and Library Services. Ricky is married to Reyna Pisano, Class of 1998, and all three of his children are happily attending Coolidge Unified Schools.

Biography of Bill Morgan
CHS Hall of Fame Class of 2019

In 1966, Bill Morgan moved to Coolidge, AZ when both his parents accepted teaching positions in the district.  In 1971, at the age of 12, Bill won the state championship for Punt, Pass, and Kick and was the Southwestern States national finalist in the Ford Motors NFL Punt, Pass, and Kick championships.  That same year, Bill was the pitcher for the Coolidge Little League All-Star team where they won the Pinal County and District Championship and made it to the state tournament.

In high school, Bill was a 4-year varsity letterman; won the freshmen Outstanding Wrestler Award advancing to the Class AA state finals; was a state pole vault medalist on the state runner-up track team.  Bill excelled in football as 3-year Varsity lettermen where he played quarterback; was the defensive team captain and the Most Valuable Player for the defense.  His football honors included:  1^st team all-region linebacker; Defensive Player of the Year; 1^st team All Pinal County; and 1^st team All state Defensive Linebacker.

After high school, Bill received a scholarship to Mesa Community College where he started two years as an outside linebacker on the nationally-ranked Mesa Thunderbird teams and subsequently graduated from ASU with a BA in teaching.  He taught high school PE and coached football and track in Tempe, Sanders, Ganado, Snowflake, Show Low, and Chandler, AZ. 

As a high school football coach, Bill is listed among the Best of the Best and recognized as one of Arizona’s All-Time Best High School Football Coaches.  Morgan has coached in nine 2A—3A Arizona state football championships and has received many coaching awards and honors over a 20 year plus career that includes a football record of 200 games won and a record of 119-29-2 as a head coach.  Bill has led two different high schools to their first-ever state football championships. 

Among Coach Morgan’s awards and recognitions: Key to the City of Show Low; 3 times the Arizona Coaches Association Football “Coach of the Year”; 2 times the ACA North All-Star head coach; two times the ASU Sun Angel Foundation Fiesta Bowl “Coach of the Year Award”; Dateline USA Magazine Football “Coach of the Year” for the southwestern USA; city of Chandler “Football Coach of the Year”; 3 times the Arizona Cardinals Football “Coach of the Week”; Arizona Cardinals state of Arizona “Top 10 Football Coaches”; 2 times Coaches Aid Arizona high school football “Coach of the Year”; 5 times Arizona Sports Network “Friday Night Fever Football Coach of the Week”; 2 times the Arizona Republic “Football Coach of the Year”; 2 times East Valley Tribune “Coach of the Year”; 2 times White Mountain Independent “Coach of the Year”; two times Gallup New Mexico Independent & Navajo Times Today “Coach of the Year”.

Mr. Morgan is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Arizona Coaches Association.  He and his wife of 35 years, Carla, have 3 children.  His parents, Donald and Janice Morgan were long-time teachers in the Coolidge Unified School District.