Bill Niepoetter was a native Centralian who worked as a
reporter and eventually became sports editor for the Centralia
Sentinel newspaper from 1957 to 1979. Bill began covering
sports for Centralia Junior College, now Kaskaskia College in
1957. Later, Bill would become the news director for the
local radio station, WILY/WRXX.
An athlete in his own right, Bill was a professional
baseball player for four years, bowled in leagues in Springfield
and Kansas City, and played slow pitch for 25 years in
Centralia.
Bill taught Journalism classes at Kaskaskia College and
served as the sponsor for the school’s newspaper, “The
Scroll.” Bill was also a past President of the Illinois AP
Sports Editor Association and a co-founder of the Centralia Sports
Hall of Fame. Bill was a dedicated supporter of athletics at
Kaskaskia College and in the local community. Bill attended
moer than 200 basketball games a season, 100 baseball games and
countless track meets and football games. Additionally, he
covered the St Louis Cardinals football home games, umpired state
American Legion baseball tournaments and Junior College State
tournamenets as well as the Ten State Babe Ruth League
Tournament. Bill served as Clinton County League umpire for
15 years.
Bill was inducted into the Centralia Hall of Fame as a
journalist, the IBCA Hall of Fame and the Nokomis Hall of Fame as a
player. Bill was also selected as an honoree by the Clinton County
League Hall of Fame as an umpire.
