Coppenbarger School
Decatur School District
1500 E Condit Street
Decatur, IllinoisThe school was named for Ida B. Shoemaker Coppenbarger (1889-1972). Ida was married to Ira Frank Coppenbarger, son of Benjamin Kirby Coppenbarger. Ida was a longtime PTA president and a volunteer in the Decatur School District.
The school was not a new construction, but rather a school formerly known as "Centennial" that had been built in honor of the 100th anniversary of Decatur's founding. The renaming took place in 1986.
Recession hit the industrial city of Decatur hard in the late 1980's and early 1990's. The resulting shifts in population unfortunately brought the closure and sale of Coppenbarger School in 1997.
Ida's grandson, Doug Coppenbarger, generously provided this information as well as the images below of the opening day pamphlet.
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