• Vashon High School

    Notable Alumni

     

    Anthony Bonner (born June 8, 1968 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the 1st round (23rd overall pick) of the 1990 NBA Draft. He played six seasons in the NBA for the Kings, New York Knicks, and Orlando Magic averaging 6.9 ppg in his career. He also played in Europe for several notable teams, including PAOK BC in Greece and Virtus Bologna Italy.

    Bonner played college basketballat Saint Louis University. He is the Billikens' all-time leading scorer with 1,972 points.

    Bonner served as the boys’ varsity basketball coach for Vashon High Schoolduring the 2007/2008 to 2008/2009 school years.

    Butler By'not'e (born September 29, 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former professional American football running back in the NFL for the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. He played college football at Ohio State University.

    William Franklin (born October 13, 1985 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American football wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Missouri.

    Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an Grammy Award-winning American soul musician. He signed with Atlantic Records in 1969, and with his first single "The Ghetto, Part I" (1970), Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."[1] His collaborations with Roberta Flack took him to the top of the charts and won him the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the duet "Where Is the Love" in 1973.

    Elston Gene Howard (February 23, 1929 – December 14, 1980) was an American catcher, left fielder and coach in Negro League and Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the New York Yankees. The first African American player on the Yankees roster, he was named the American League's Most Valuable Player with the 1963 pennant winners after finishing third in the league in slugging average and fifth in home runs, becoming the first black player in AL history to win the honor. He won Gold Glove Awards in 1963 and 1964, in the latter season setting AL records for putouts and total chances in a season. His lifetime fielding percentage of .993 was a major league record from 1967 to 1973, and he retired among the AL career leaders in putouts (7th, 6,447) and total chances (9th, 6,977). One of the most regular World Series participants in history, he appeared in 10 fall classics and ranks among the Series career leaders in several categories. His lifetime slugging average of .427 ranked fourth among AL catchers when he retired.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Floyd Irons, graduated from Vashon in 1966. After graduating from Langston University, Irons returned to his alma mater in 1971 to teach Social Studies and coach varsity basketball. He was later named Assistant Principal and Principal. In each role, he took pride in helping many students obtain scholarship information and funding sources for college. During his 30 years at Vashon High School, Irons has coached his varsity teams to 20 Final Four tournaments and 10 State titles. In 2003, The National Sporting Magazine named Irons its Coach of the Year and with an overall impressive 791 wins, Irons has the third best record of all of Missouri’s high school coaches.

    Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 - October 22, 1988) was a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong.

    The son of a sharecropperand America Armstrong, an Iroquoisnative American, Henry Jr. was a boxer who not only was a member of the exclusive group of fighters that have won boxing championships in three or more different divisions(at a time when there were fewer weight divisions than today), but also has the distinction of being the only boxer to hold three world championships at the same time. He also defended the Welterweight championship more times than any other fighter.

    In 2002, Ring Magazineranked Armstrong as the 2nd greatest fighter of the last 80 years, behind only Sugar Ray Robinsonand ahead of the legendary Muhammad Ali.

    Vitalis “Veto” Reid Veto Reid had a U.S. Postal Service career that spanned over 50 years. He started his career on August 20, 1951; and it culminated with his retirement as postmaster on September 1, 2001.

    His first assignment was "indefinite substitute clerk," which included working in the mail processing and special-delivery sections. After 18 years as a clerk, he received his first management promotion to mail supervisor in December of 1969. That promotion was indeed a significant accomplishment and was a first for an African American. Affectionately known to his family and friends as Veto, he has been throughout his life a man of many firsts. Some of his many accomplishments are as follows:

    Superintendent of station and branches in Berkeley, Missouri; delivery program branch supervisor in Chicago, Illinois; officer-in-charge, in Hazelwood, Missouri Post Office; officer-in-charge in St. Charles, Missouri; postmaster of Godfrey, Illinois; postmaster of St. Charles, Missouri.

    Veto Reid's outstanding record of accomplishments as a postal service employee was recognized in the Congressional Record on October 21, 2001. He is an honor graduate of the historic Vashon High School located in St. Louis, and attended Stowe Teachers College and the University of Missouri at St. Louis. He is also a trustee and chairman of the board of Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, where he has been a member for more than 65 years.

    He also has long-lasting memberships with the Albert Holman Masonic Lodge, Eureka Consistory, and Medinah Temple representing the Shriners of Eastern, Missouri.

    Veto Reid served on the boards of many advisory committees throughout the St. Louis community. In January of 1995 he was appointed President of the Advisory Board of St. Joseph's Hospital SSM, St. Charles, Missouri. In July of 1999, he was elected President of the Rotary Club of St. Charles, Missouri. In both cases he became the first African American to hold such positions.

    Mr. Reid was also the first African American station manager at the South St. Louis City, Chouteau Branch, and he was also the first African American to be appointed station manager at the Godfrey, Illinois, and St. Charles, Missouri post offices.

    Vitilas Reid has received many awards, including the First Postmaster's Leadership Award, which was presented at the 1992 National Association of Postmasters of the United States convention in Nashville, Tennessee. In January 2002, he received the State of Missouri Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Service Award. He was inducted into the historic Vashon High School Hall of Fame in 1990, and was inducted into the St. Louis Gateway Classic Walk of Fame in August of 2003.

    Clark Terry (born December 14, 1920), nicknamed Mumbles, is a Grammy Award-winning American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, and NEA Jazz Master. While attending Vashon High School, he began his professional career in the early 1940s by playing in local clubs before joining a Navy band during World War II. Afterwards, he played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948 to 1951), Duke Ellington (1951 to 1959), and Quincy Jones (1960). He also performed and recorded regularly both as a leader and sideman. In all, his career in jazz spans more than sixty years.

    His years with Basie and Ellington in the late 1940s and 1950s established him as a world-class jazz artist. Blending the St. Louis tone of his youth with contemporary styles, Terry’s sound influenced a generation. During this period, Terry took part in many of Ellington's suites and acquired a lasting reputation for his wide range of styles (from swing to hard bop), technical proficiency, and infectious good humor. In addition to his outstanding musical contribution to these bands, Terry exerted a positive influence on musicians such as Miles Davisand Quincy Jones, both of whom credit Clark as a formidable influence during the early stages of their careers. (Terry had informally taught Davis while they were still in St Louis.)

    Morris M. Towns (born January 10, 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the Houston Oilers and the Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of Missouri.

    Maxine Waters (born Maxine Moore Carr on August 15, 1938) has served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991, representing California's 35th congressional district. She resides in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles, which is approximately six miles west of downtown. Waters graduated from Vashon High School in St. Louis and attended Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles). Prior to her entry into politics, she was a teacher and a volunteer coordinator in the Head Start program. Her husband, Sidney Williams, is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas.