A scholarship has been created with the Illinois Valley Community College Foundation to honor the memory of former Princeton High School teacher and coach Randy Swinford who died Oct. 25 at age 64 after battling cancer.
His widow and high school sweetheart, Lani Frandsen Swinford, created the Randy Swinford Legacy Scholarship for students pursuing technical or digital technology careers with a $10,000 endowment. The $1,000 annual award, to be awarded for the first time in September, will benefit students in technical areas such as automotive, HVAC, industrial maintenance, tool and die making and welding, among others. In addition, students in digital careers such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), computer networking, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) and electronics also qualify. Preference will be given to Princeton High graduates.
“Thanks to the compassion and generosity of Mr. Swinford’s wonderful family, his legacy will endure at IVCC and Princeton High School and in death he will continue to support hard-working and industrious students,” said IVCC President Jerry Corcoran.
In 1976, Swinford moved to Princeton to teach industrial arts at Princeton High. He was a beloved wrestling and football coach at the school from 1976 until his retirement in 2011, when he was inducted into the IWCOA Coaching Hall of Fame. He served in the Naval Air Reserve. For 20-plus years, Swinford also taught IVCC classes at Princeton High School
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