Mourning Legendary Coach Jerry Hampton

There are few coaches who impacted more lives over the years at Graceland than Dr. Gerald E. “Jerry” Hampton ’52. As a student, he was honored for his excellence in football, track, basketball, and tennis. When he returned to Graceland as a member of the physical education faculty in 1960 after obtaining his doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College. He eventually became the chair of the Division of Health and Education and took over as the head wrestling coach.

Hampton was a member of the faculty for 50 years before retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2010. He impacted countless Graceland students and was known as arguably the most versatile coach in Yellowjacket history. He coached wrestling for 22 seasons, amassing a 238-87 record, and never lost a conference championship. He earned conference coach of the year honors in wrestling and served as the president of the NAIA National Wrestling Coaches Association.

Athletic Director Brady McKillip ’00 coached alongside Hampton for nearly a decade before his retirement. He was asked about Hampton’s impact and replied, “What do you say about Jerry? He was a Graceland legend and will be greatly missed. The number of lives he touched over the years is hard to imagine. Everyone that was lucky enough to be around him in any capacity, is no doubt a better person because of it.”

Outside of wrestling, Hampton also spent time at Graceland coaching football (25 years), golf, cross country, and tennis for 34 years, a sport which earned him conference coach of the year honors 20 times, as well as earning his teams multiple trips to the NAIA National Championship. His tennis teams won 20 Heart of America titles.

When he retired in 2010, Hampton reflected on his coaching career, saying, “I’ve truly looked forward to coming to Graceland every day and have never considered it work. What I will miss the most is the close associations that coaches create with student-athletes both while they’re playing and once they head out into the real world. Spending over half my life at a place I love is something I’ll cherish forever. I’ve always said if I had to live my life over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Hampton was inducted into the Graceland Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986 and the athletic administration building on the Lamoni campus bears his name.

Hampton impacted the greater Lamoni community as well. He and his wife Helen, who also served on Graceland’s faculty, opened two businesses in Lamoni that were mainstays – the Pizza Shack and Country Plus. Even in retirement, he volunteered regularly with EveryStep Hospice in Osceola and Mount Ayr, and in 2015 received the Lifetime Presidential Volunteer Service Award for more than 10,000 hours of service to his community. EveryStep honored him in 2019 with a special Quilts of Valor quilt, awarded to military members and veterans who have been touched by war. Hampton served in the army prior to joining the Graceland faculty.

He loved to sing as well and was part of the employee quartet, “The Unpredictables,” who entertained students, faculty, staff, and alumni over the years.

The Hampton family Jerry and Helen created – their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren – are affectionately known throughout the Graceland community as Team Hampton. Many of them have served on Graceland’s board of trustees, the alumni board, and as members of the staff.

Chief Marketing Officer Shane Adams ’99, lived around the corner from the Hamptons as a child. He shared, “Graceland University is forever changed because of the Team Hampton impact. Jerry is one of the pillars of Graceland’s foundation – a rock of Graceland’s athletic department and a shining example of the true nature of Graceland graduates everywhere. His memory lives on in the lives of all he taught, coached, and befriended over the years. Thank you, Team Hampton, for sharing him with us.”