Riverside County
Biographies
GLEN D. WIGHT
In discharging the responsible duties devolving upon him as superintendent of schools and principal of the high school at Corona, Glen D. Wight brings to bear thorough collegiate training and broad experience in the educational field. He was born in Riverside, California, November 16, 1890, a son of Sion L. Wight, who was born at Andover, Ohio, in 1866, and as a young man sought the opportunities of the west, locating in Fulton, South Dakota, where he embarked in the contracting business. In Fulton he met Miss Emma Downs, also a native of Ohio, and they were married at Los Angeles in 1886. With building operations of that city S. L. Wight was likewise closely identified as a contractor. He was chief of the first fire department of Riverside, proving an efficient conscientious public servant. He united with the Congregational Church, remaining faithful to its teachings until the close of his life in 1904, and his widow passed away in 1918. They were the parents of six children: Glen D.; Carl Raymond, who became foreman for the Carpenter Contracting Company; Fred Hartley, who studied for the ministry; Gail Benjamin, who met death by drowning September 5, 1921; and Vera and Lela May Wight.
Following his graduation from the Riverside high school Glen D. Wight matriculated in the University of California at Berkeley, where he received the B.S. degree in 1912, and for about two years thereafter was employed in the statistical department of the State Industrial Accident Commission. In 1914 he became a grammar school teacher in Murrieta, Riverside county, and was next made principal of the high school at West Riverside, holding the position for three years. He then became an instructor in the high school of Corona, was chosen principal of the high school at the end of a year, and later assumed the duties of superintendent. His well directed efforts have been beneficially resultant, thoroughly justifying the wisdom of his selection for this important office. He ably supervises the work of eighty teachers and readily solves the difficult problems with which he is daily confronted. The local educational system comprises a high school, a junior high and four elementary schools, with an enrollment of two thousand, two hundred pupils, and a night school with an attendance of four hundred students.
In 1923 Mr. Wight married Miss Carrie DeHaan, a daughter of Jacob DeHaan, of Pella, Iowa, and they now have two children: Nelma Jane, aged eight years; and Robert DeHaan, aged five years. Mr. Wight finds his recreation in outdoor sports and particularly enjoys mountain climbing. By nature deeply religious, he is active in the Congregational Church and Sunday School and also in the state organization of Christian Endeavor, of which he is a past president. His civic spirit is expressed through his connection with the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He was presented with a life membership in the National Education Association and also belongs to the California Teachers Association. He has a keen sense of the responsibility of his calling and his close application and steadily expanding powers insure his continued progress therein.
Transcribed
5-25-12 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: California
of the South Vol. II, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages
427-428, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 Marilyn R. Pankey.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S RIVERSIDE BIOGRAPHIES