VIDALIA — Former Vidalia High School principal and Concordia Parish school board member Walter Stampley Jr., 88, died Monday, leaving a legacy of strong educational leadership in the school system and the community.

His funeral is at 1 p.m. today at the Vidalia Presbyterian Church in Vidalia.

Stampley served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. After his time in the military, Stampley received a college degree in physical education from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame member and former Vidalia High School football coach Dee Faircloth said Stampley was nicknamed “The Bear” for his aggressive fullback play at USM.

“They called him ‘The Bear,’ because he was very tough,” Faircloth said. “If you go into a dark alley, you better take ‘The Bear’ with you.”

After college, Stampley became the head football, basketball and baseball coach at Vidalia High School in 1952, before becoming the principal of the school from 1957 until 1978.

Faircloth said Stampley ran a tight ship at Vidalia and is a big reason why the school flourished for so long.

“Stampley was the one that got me to come to Vidalia in 1968,” Faircloth said. “He was my first principal and boss. He was a great man, and he ran a tight school. He had a great school at that time.

“He was the man in charge. He did all of the scheduling with no assistant principal. It was his school for about 30 years.”

Faircloth remembers Stampley as an honest man who just wanted the best for every child, even if it meant ratting them out.

“His favorite day of the year was Skip Day, because what he would do is call everybody’s parents and say ‘You know Tom is not at school today.’ I saw many parents dragging their kids back to school because Stampley called,” Faircloth said laughing.

When Stampley retired from Vidalia High in 1978, he couldn’t help but stay involved in the lives of the children and the community as he served on the Concordia Parish School Board for 14 years.

Current school board member Gary Parnham Sr. served on the school board with Stampley, and he said Stampley stayed involved in education because he genuinely cared about the community and the students.

“He is an outstanding individual as far as I’m concerned,” Parnham said. “He did a lot for the community, and he is a long-time educator. He really was a good community man.

“I could always count on him, because he had the experience. I always looked at him as a figurehead of the community.”

Parnham said Stampley’s legacy in Vidalia is evident in word of mouth alone.

“When I first came here, everyone knew of Stampley and had good things to say,” Parnham said. “He had that type of impact on the community. He was always concerned about things going on in the school system.

“He always wanted the best for the community. I think the world of him, and he did a lot for the city of Vidalia and the school system.”