In the educational affairs of West Warwick, Rhode Island, a man who has for many years taken an important part is Winfield Corey Potter, Ph. B., who has been serving since 1922 as principal of the high school of this place. Both in this position and in his previous work as teacher, Mr. Potter has contributed substantially to the well-being of his community and his fellows, and his efforts and achievements have brought him their esteem and respect.
Mr. Potter was born in Central Falls, this State, on October 6, 1888, son of Frank W. and Margaret (Ashworth) Potter. His father, also a Rhode Island man, was for many years superintendent of the J. and P. Coats Thread Company, of Pawtucket; he retired from his active endeavors about 1910, whereupon he removed to Vancouver, British Columbia, and resided there until his death in September, 1928. The mother predeceased her husband, having died there in December, 1927.
Winfield Corey Potter received his early education in his native community, and was graduated from Central Falls High School. Later he studied at Brown University, from which institution he took his degree of Bachelor of Philosophy with the class of 1910. At the University he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. Upon completing his academic work, he began teaching, remaining for one year at the high school in Milford, New Hampshire, and following that experience with a year each at the Amherst, Massachusetts, high school, and the Webster, Massachusetts, high school. Then, in 1922, he took his post as principal of the West Warwick High School, where he has continued down to the time of writing (1930). His record as an educator has been one of accomplishment and success, and he is a principal much loved by his students, ever enthusiastically active in athletics and school sports. In civic life, too, he has always taken a lively interest, so that he holds a position of high character in the minds of friends and acquaintances.
Winfield Corey Potter married Ruth Riley, daughter of Timothy J. Riley, formerly mayor of Central Falls, Rhode Island. By this marriage there were two children:
- Dorothy Frances, who is a junior at the high school (1930).
- Gordon Lloyd, born in 1918.
Source: Carroll, Charles. Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy, vol 3 of 4. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1932.