Glenn Coltharp, Asbury, MO passed away on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, from complications due to liver failure, at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He was at peace and in the company of his family. Glenn was born on March 4, 1959, in Stillwater, OK to Dr. Forrest and Barbara (Arnold) Coltharp. Glenn graduated from Pittsburg (KS) High School in 1977 and attended Pittsburg State University earning degrees (B.S., M.S. and Ed Specialist) in Elementary Education, Elementary School Administration and School Administration; he continued his education to earn his doctorate in School Administration from Kansas State University and, later in life, an Honorary Doctorate in Public Affairs, from Missouri State University.
On July 31, 1982, he married Hazel (Kent) Coltharp of Asbury, MO. They were blessed with two children, Dr. Jean Coltharp (Luke Awad) who is a math professor at MSSU, and Benjamin Coltharp (Laura Phillips) of Joplin, MO who is a math teacher at Joplin High School and tennis coach. He often commented that he had done more than he ever thought that he would accomplish, that he wouldn’t have done anything differently, and he could “go” at any time because he felt so proud of his children and so grateful for the human beings they had grown into. Glenn grew up in the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pittsburg, and joined, with Hazel, the First United Methodist Church after they were married. Glenn’s service to his church began early with him having served as one of the youngest Presidents of the Board of Deacons while he was in high school and college, and this service continued in the various churches he attended throughout adulthood, lending administrative help as needed. His faith was deep and strong, as exemplified, in the sincerest way, with how he treated other people, if not always Biblically accurate (he often mixed parables with Chinese proverbs or Americanisms). This devotion to education and faith extended to his service to education and the community. Glenn’s devotion to education was evidenced by his 40-plus years divided evenly between K-12 and Higher Education. As he was always looking for a new challenge, a new set of friends, and a new set of students to lead, he served as an elementary teacher in two school districts (kindergarten, first, and fourth grade); as an administrator, he served as an elementary principal in three school districts, a middle school principal in one school district and as Principal of the Missouri State School for the Severely Handicapped in Joplin. He was superintendent of schools in two districts and assistant superintendent in two others. This time included the school districts of Pittsburg, Olathe, DeSoto, and Shawnee Mission, and Joplin, Carl Junction, and Carthage. During this time, he also taught educational administration courses for Baker University, Pittsburg State University, and Missouri State University. His higher education service included Missouri Southern State University as Head of Teacher Education, Dean of the College of Education, and Interim Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs. His last full-time service was to Crowder College as Vice President of Academic Affairs and then as President. Glenn’s service didn’t stop with retirement as he responded to local administrators’/friends’ requests for last-minute or middle-of-the-school-year emergencies by filling in as Elementary Principal in the same school district as he first served in when he returned to his roots, Joplin, and he went on to help out another school district needing some help at the middle school level and support for new principals in general—the kindergartners had gotten a lot faster than when he taught kindergarten as a second and third-year teacher! He also was very pleased to have served as the K-8 principal for Martin Luther School in Joplin, ending his time in classrooms with a totally unique, for him, experience of helping in a parochial school, and it was a wonderful experience for him. He also gave to education by serving on state content education boards for Reading and Mathematics, perhaps being one of the only “family” teams to have served as the President of the Kansas Association of Mathematics teachers, following his father and preceding his wife. He served at the state education governing levels as a member of the boards of the Missouri Commissioner’s Advisory Board, the Missouri Community College Association Presidents Committee, the Missouri Advisory Board for Education Preparation, the Missouri Community College Association Chief Academic Officer Committee, the Missouri Network for Transforming Educator Preparation, and the Missouri Department of Higher Education Council of CAOs. His service was at the local level as well with board memberships on the Carthage (including the Caring Communities Board) and Joplin United Ways. He served on the Joplin and Neosho/Grove YMCA boards, the Joplin Alliance, and the Southwest Center for Educational Excellence Board. He was also willing to lend his administrative experience, if not technical advice (of which he had little), to the Jasper County Public Water Supply District Board #2 and the Asbury Volunteer Fire Protection Board (no, he did not respond to calls!). Always an educator at heart, he returned to Carl Junction schools to serve several terms on their board of education. He had numerous awards and honors not included here but he has received the best award of all, now, and I know he loves everyone that misses him. I think the world seems just a little dimmer without him.
Services are under the direction of Brenner Mortuary in Pittsburg, KS. The visitation will be at the First United Methodist Church, 5th and Pine in Pittsburg on Friday, November 1 5 to 7 p.m., and the Celebration of Life will follow on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 10 a.m. in the Joplin High School Performing Arts Center 20th and Indiana with a private family burial at another time. Up to date information may also be found on Glenn’s Facebook page or Brenner’s website. Memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church, Pittsburg, the Pittsburg State University Mathematics Department’s Coltharp Family Mathematics Education Scholarship, or the Southwest Center for Educational Excellence scholarship in his name.
