Lester B. Wikoff
Colonel Lester Bascom Wikoff (1893–1978) served as the fifth
Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri
, from 1960 to 1971.
Lester B. Wikoff was born in
Athletic Director in 1917, and added the duties of Director of Enrollment and Quartermaster in 1928. He served as Business Manager, Secretary and Treasurer from 1935 to 1960, running the school in partnership with Superintendent James M. Sellers
. Sellers and Wikoff were co-owners of Wentworth from 1935 to 1951, when Wikoff oversaw the school's re-organization as a non-profit institution. From 1960 to 1971, he served as Superintendent, a period during which the school had unparalleled enrollment, averaging over 600 students a year. It was under his guidance that the Scholastic Building, Chapel, Sandford Sellers Hall, and the Field House were constructed.
Beyond Wentworth, Wikoff served as president of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce, as district governor of
Battle of the Hemp Bales
before a huge crowd in Lexington in 1955.
Wikoff died on January 4, 1978, in Lexington.
References
- The Story of Wentworth, by Raymond W. Settle, 1950, Spencer Printing Co., Kansas City.
- History of Wentworth Military Academy, by James M. Sellers, Jr., 1984.