The Warren School District is remembering Dr. Frank Anthony, a longtime Arkansas educator and administrator who died July 21 at the age of 80.
Anthony served the Warren School District from 1984 through 1992, including six years as assistant superintendent. He also served as superintendent during the 1988-89 school year.
During his years in Warren, Anthony helped guide the district while also encouraging and mentoring educators who later moved into leadership positions of their own. His career in public education spanned 43 years and included service as a teacher, coach, principal and administrator in several Arkansas school districts.
Anthony later held leadership positions with the Arkansas Department of Education and served as superintendent of the Pine Bluff and Dollarway school districts. He was also appointed to the Arkansas Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education and served as president of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators.
In 2006-07, Anthony was selected as the association’s Superintendent of the Year, becoming the first Black educator in Arkansas to receive the honor.
His commitment to students continued after his retirement. Anthony joined fellow retired superintendents Thomas Gathen, David Rainey and Andrew Tolbert in establishing the Anthony-Gathen-Rainey-Tolbert Scholarship.
The scholarship provides a $1,000 award in each of the four districts where the educators served—Pine Bluff, Dollarway, Dumas and Warren. It was created to help students from low-income families pursue a college education.
“The Warren School District remembers and honors Dr. Frank Anthony, whose years of dedicated service and leadership left a lasting impact on our district and community,” the district said in a statement.
The district extended its condolences to Anthony’s family, friends and former colleagues while expressing gratitude for his service to Warren’s students and schools.
“He will be remembered with gratitude and respect,” the district stated.
Anthony is survived by his wife, Betty Jolly Anthony, and two children.
