• Eric Q. Oliver. Sr.
     

    Eric Oliver is a 1980 Sumner High Graduate.

    Oliver grew up in the Greater Ville Neighborhood and attended Cote Brilliante Elementary School and Turner Middle School.  He was also a member of The Mathews-Dickey Boys Club.

    While attending Sumner High he lettered in football and baseball his senior year and was also inducted into the Quill and Scroll Honor Society for aspiring journalists.

    Shortly after graduation he started working for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and remained with the company for nearly 30 years.

    After leaving SBC/AT&T he became a Financial Advisor for The Prudential Financial Company and after nearly five years became the Telecom Coordinator for The Enterprise Holdings Company where is currently working.

    Oliver earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources from Webster University. He is a graduate of Fontbonne University, where he earned his Master’s Degree in Management.

    Oliver would later return as the speaker for the Turner Middle School graduating Class of 1992 commencement exercise.

    In 2004 Oliver joined the Sumner Alumni Association and served as its Vice-President for four (4) years.

    After spending several years as a coach at the Mathews-Dickey Boys Club, Oliver got his first football official’s position in the fall of 1997 in the Junior Football League and also joined the St. Louis Officials Association as a high school football official, where he remained for ten seasons.  

    Oliver became a Division III college football official in the Fall of 2001 and officiated football games for both the St. Louis Intercollegiate Conference and the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.

    In 2008 Oliver was promoted to Division I-AA as a football official for the Gateway Conference.

    In 2009 he joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference as a full time official and would serve for the next four (4) seasons.

    In 2013 he was promoted to the Mid-American Conference and after one full season Oliver was promoted in 2014 to the B1G TEN Football Conference where he currently serves.

    After a stellar rookie season in the B1G TEN Conference, Oliver received an assignment to officiate the 2014 B1G TEN Football Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN.

    He is only the 3rd African American to officiate the Championship game in the history of the B1G TEN football conference and the 1st to officiate at the position of Center Judge.

    Oliver is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. and is married to Angela Oliver (Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.). They have four children – sons, Shamatonian (University of Nebraska-Omaha), Eric Jr (Lake Forest College) and daughters, Erica (Howard University), Imani, a senior at Webster High School. Imani plans to attend Murray State University in the Fall of 2015.

    Notable officiating accomplishments:

    • BIG Ten Championship Game 2014

    • New Era Pinstripe Bowl 2013
    • FCS 2nd Round Play-off 2012

    • Division III 2nd Round Play-off 2008

    • Division III 1st Round Play-off 2007

     

    During his high school tenure Oliver was an official in two (2) Sectional, four (4) Quarter Final and four (4) Semi-Final Missouri State High School football games.