depauw athletic hall of fame

Mark W. Bills ’23 earned four letters in basketball and baseball during his DePauw University career. He earned reputations as a clutch field-goal shooter and a strikeout-throwing pitcher. In 1922 he was selected to the Indiana All-State Third Team at center, at a time when players from all Indiana colleges and universities were considered for one team. Bills also was a four-year Rector Scholar. After graduation he coached high school football and basketball, winning city championships with two Ft. Wayne (Ind.) high schools, along with two sectional championships and a regional championship in basketball. An accomplished singer (baritone), Bills also served as choir director and soloist with Trinity English Lutheran Church in Ft. Wayne, and performed many concerts with churches and symphonies in the Midwest. In 1935 Bills earned a bachelor of music degree from the University of Michigan, continuing with a master’s degree in 1943, and a Ph.D. in 1944, both from the same institution. After teaching music at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Central Michigan and Purdue University, Bills turned to educational administration. From 1944 through 1968 he served as superintendent of schools in Flint, Mich., Kansas City, Mo. and Peoria, Ill. The recipient of many awards and honors, including an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Bradley University, perhaps his greatest tribute is the Mark W. Bills Elementary School in Peoria, Ill. Bills died in November 1976, in a hunting accident.