Wayne Plaster

Kenneth Wayne Plaster, 82, of Denton, died Saturday, August 06, 2022 at Brookdale Senior Living in Lexington.

A funeral service will be 3:00 PM Saturday, August 13, 2022 at Briggs Funeral Home Memorial Chapel, with Rev. Chris Smith officiating.  Burial will be private at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church Cemetery.

Born in Patrick County, VA, on September 27, 1939, he was the son Thomas Albert and Daisy Martin Plaster.  He had retired from the Davidson County School System, where he was a teacher and a coach at South Davidson High School.  He was a member of Chapel Hill UMC. He was preceded in death by a son, Thomas Wayne Plaster, a brother, Joe Plaster and a sister, Mary Jean Harris.

Plaster earned his teaching degree at Atlantic Christian College in Wilson, NC and before moving to Denton, he also taught for several years in Columbia and Warrenton.

He lived in Denton for fifty years and taught for more than 25 years at Denton and South Davidson high schools, starting in 1969. During those years, Plaster became the most prolific athletic coach in school history, coaching around 1,000 athletic contests, and numerous different sports, including girls and boys basketball, volleyball, cross country, football, and baseball. He was also the school's athletic trainer for many years, and also athletic director during the school's transition to becoming South Davidson.

As a girls basketball coach in the early 1970s, Plaster had one of the strongest teams around, playing much larger schools, and with records as winning as 21-3, and with two all-state players. With a short crew cut in those early years, Plaster was known for his hard edge and fighting spirit, but his players always knew how much he cared and that winning wasn't everything. Plaster was inducted into the school's sports hall of fame in 2016

As a teacher in Denton, he taught literally hundreds of students in history and PE, sometimes even multiple generations of the same family. His approach to teaching was often innovative, pioneering the use of genealogy in the classroom with a door to door fundraising campaign to purchase reference books, and a graveyard cataloging project. Later in his career when he also taught at the high school extended day program, he was an early adopter of a contract based learning styles approach.

During and after his career as a teacher, Plaster also served his community in other ways, including twice being the foreman of jury trials, and serving on the Denton town council for several terms.

After retirement, Plaster learned pottery from local community college classes and sold his work at shops and festivals all over the state. Known for his hat and beard, he earned repeat business from his customers, who returned year after year for his creations, like this barrels or his angels.

Plaster lived the last few years of his life at Brookdale Assisted Living in Lexington.

Wayne is survived by his son, Jonathan “Scott” Plaster of Lexington; daughter, Michelle Conner of Philadelphia PA; 5 grandchildren.

The family will receive friends from 2 to 3 PM Saturday prior to the service at Briggs Funeral Home in Denton.

Memorials may be made to the South Davidson Resource Center, PO Box 1197, Denton, NC 27239

Online condolences can be made to the family at www.briggsfuneralhome.com