21085 LM Summer 2021_hi

memory In Remembrance

though she worked at La Grange Highlands #106 and his career was based in central and southern Illinois. “We were in two different worlds but that didn’t make any difference,” Grimes said. “He was just always kind, generous and caring.” After retiring from IASA in 2006, Dr. Warfield joined the University of Illinois Springfield faculty in the College of Education and Human Services. As Scholar-in-Residence, he taught graduate level courses in the Educational Leadership Program.

leadership, the association expanded services, sustained growth in membership and experienced financial stability. Milestones during his tenure include the employment of a full- time attorney, the formation of the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, the purchase of IASA’s first building, the establishment of IASA’s Illinois Education Job Bank and the addition of a full-time Director of Governmental Relations. Don Weber, a former superintendent and IASA President in 2004, said Dr. Warfield was the right person at the right time to lead IASA.

Dr. Warfield’s impact on IASA remains to this day. According to IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark, Dr. Warfield moved the association forward and built the runway that allowed IASA to grow into what it has become today. “Nobody supported and believed more in the impact a superintendent could have on students than Walt,” Dr. Clark said. “He poured his heart and soul into making this association stronger, so it could better support superintendents and help them expand their leadership capacity.”

“He was always looking out for the best interest of school superintendents, school districts and students,” Weber said. “He had a very good pulse on educational issues and worked well in a number of different mediums.” Elise Grimes, who served as IASA President in 1993, also looks fondly back at her time working with Dr. Warfield on the IASA Board of Directors. She and Dr. Warfield quickly bonded, Grimes said, even

In lieu of flowers, Dr. Warfield and his family requested memorial donations be made to the James V. and Dorothy B. Moon Scholarship Fund (SAFE) and sent to the Illinois Association of School Administrators at 2648 Beecher Court, Springfield, Illinois, 62703.

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