John Hamilton

Dr. John L. Hamilton passed away on April 14, 2023, at Citizens Medical Center in Colby.

John was born in Riverton, Wyoming on February 5, 1945, to John and Betty Hamilton. He was a state champion athlete in high school and then a successful coach and teacher. John won coach of the year honors when his Ten Sleep, Wyoming football team went undefeated. He also coached track and basketball throughout his career.

While John loved coaching, teaching science and life-long learning skills to his students, were even more important. Many of his students commented on how he was driven to help them learn and grow as a human being, no matter how underserving or far behind they felt they were. After teaching for 17 years in Ten Sleep and then Wright, Wyoming, John earned his Masters and Doctorates degrees in Education from the University of Wyoming and became a junior high principal in Gillette, Wyoming. He eventually promoted to high school principal at the Gillette high school. In 1991, John accepted the Goodland High School Principal position and later became Asst. Superintendent. He had great memories of relationships with students and teachers in Goodland, telling family that the Goodland teachers were the best group he ever worked with.

After several years in Goodland, John accepted the Superintendent of Schools position in Lovell, Wyoming and then capped his career as a Professor at Texas A&M in Texarkana, TX. There he taught aspiring education administrators earning their Masters and Doctorate degrees.

John married Glenda on December 27, 2012 and partnered with and loved her until the end. John so loved his family and his actions showed there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to help them.

John is survived by Glenda Hamilton and her three children Dyrenda Francey of Parrish, Florida, Tony Worsham of Alpena, Arkansas, and Thad Worsham of Tulsa, Oklahoma. John’s children are Mike (son) and Krista Hamilton of Colby, Nikki (daughter) and Dennis Stegman (like a son) of Goodland, and Mark (son) and Michelle Hamilton of Erie, Colorado. John’s grandchildren are Alec, Gia, and Mia Hamilton (Mike and Krista’s children), Trey and Brady (whose wife is Phoebe) Hamilton (Nikki’s children), and Madelyn, Natalie, and Nicholas Hamilton (Mark and Michelle’s children). Great grandchildren are Nevaeh Hamilton (daughter to Alec and Tess Hamilton) and Jadyn and Amelia Hamilton (daughters to Trey Hamilton).

John was a passionate and committed husband, brother, father and friend, and he will be greatly missed by the many people whose lives he touched and enriched. He will always be a teacher.