Doral Gross – Class of 1925
Doral Grose (December 10, 1906 – June 11, 1986) was Mr. Dodge City!
Born in Dodge City, Kansas, to Harry & Minnie Sturgeon Grose, he graduated from Dodge City Senior High School in 1925. He attended the University of Kansas where he played for the legendary Phog Allen – whose assistant at the time was James Naismith. He graduated from KU in 1931, returning to Dodge City to begin a forty year career in education as a teacher and coach.
Grose was an accomplished student athlete at DCHS. He earned 7-letters in high school; 3-year letterman in basketball, and 2 letters each in football and track. He played quarterback and receiver for the Red Demon Football team for two years – catching the game winning pass against rival Garden City his junior year. He set two school records on the track team – one of which (100 yard dash) was on the books for 43 years before being broken in 1968 – only four years before his retirement!
Finally, he was the captain of one of the most accomplished basketball teams in DCHS history his senior year and was named the Most Valuable Player at the state tournament which was played at KU Field House where he would return to play collegiately the following year.
Upon his graduation from Kansas University, Grose returned to Dodge City and began his teaching and coaching career at Dodge City Junior High School. After one year at the junior high, Doral moved on to the high school where he began a long career as influential member of the teaching staff. He was the Head Boys Basketball Coach from 1933 through 1938. He also served as the Head Track Coach, Head Tennis Coach, and Assistant Football Coach. One of his most proud accomplishments was the Allemande Club – a square dance school club he led with an average membership of 170 students each year.
Mr. Grose taught twelve different courses during his tenure at DCHS, and received his Master’s degree from Colorado State College.
Doral Grose married Nina B. Whitwam in 1933, and they raised a son (Gary) and daughter (Judy) in a house they had built on Central Avenue – a house that often welcomed Coach Allen on recruiting trips to western Kansas as they remained life-long friends. Doral’s daughter (Judy) eventually married Dick Masters – who eventually became the all-time winningest football coach in Red Demon Football history.
Of all these accomplishments, Doral Grose may be most remembered for his published work: Golden Jubilee – of Football and Basketball at DCSHS. His second (unpublished) volume of the book has since been compiled by the DCHS Athletic Department and both volumes are being newly released this fall in his honor.
Dick Masters – 1962-2001, DCHS
Coach Dick Masters is a Dodge City High School coaching legend.
Coach Masters is the all-time winningest football coach in the tradition rich history of Red Demon Football. He taught his entire forty year career at Dodge City High School from 1962-2001. His coaching career began as an assistant for Coach Bob Gerard.
Masters was an assistant for now fellow DCHS Ring of Honor member – J.C. Riekenberg, during the 1970 State Championship season.
Upon Riekenberg’s resignation, Dick was named the Head Coach for Red Demon Football in 1972 and built the Red Demons into a perennial state power winning (173) games over the course of the next (23) seasons. His teams had 21-straight winning seasons from (1975-1995). He remained on the teaching staff until his retirement from education in 2001.
Masters was a high school graduate of Hays, KS. He then played football for the Dodge City Junior College Conquistadors from 1958 to 1960. During that time, he was named All-Conference running back in 1959 and All-American running back in 1959. Upon graduation, Dick transferred to Kansas State University, playing football for the Wildcats from 1960-61. He completed his studies at Kansas State University in 1962.
Coach Masters not only coached several generations of football players, but he coached several other sports and was instrumental in developing and modernizing the weights program at DCHS. He is also a member of the Dodge City Community College Conquistador Hall of Fame.
Coach was known for his intense practices, loyal staff, and off-season hunting trips. He raised his family in Dodge City and still lives here today with his wife Judy.
“Coach Masters was one of the first people I met upon moving to Dodge City in 1987. For many of us he is still the link to our ‘glory days’ and the golden era of Red Demon Football from the late 1960’s to the mid- 1990’s. In true Coach Masters fashion, even today he rarely misses a Red Demon home game and still enjoys watching Dodge City win on the gridiron.” – Jay Gifford, AD – Dodge City High School
Coach Masters is one of the more beloved former coaches at Dodge City High School and his selection to the Ring of Honor brings a smile to many faces in the Dodge City community – and in all the communities where his former players and students now live.
