John Christenbury

{{Infobox college coach

| name = John Christenbury

| image = John Christenbury.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Christenbury pictured in The Tecoan 1942, East Carolina yearbook

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|2|13}}

| birth_place = Statesville, North Carolina, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|7|17|1907|2|3}}

| death_place = Port Chicago, California, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1938–1939

| coach_team2 = Brevard

| coach_years3 = 1940–1941

| coach_team3 = East Carolina

| coach_sport4 = Basketball

| coach_years5 = 1940–1943

| coach_team5 = East Carolina

| coach_sport6 = Baseball

| coach_years7 = 1941–1942

| coach_team7 = East Carolina

| overall_record = 20–9–2 (football)
25–15 (basketball)
13–11 (baseball)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

John Boyd Christenbury (February 13, 1907 – July 17, 1944) was an American college football, basketball and baseball coach. His collegiate career began in 1938 when he became athletic director at Brevard College, serving there until 1940. While at Brevard, Christenbury also served as head football coach in 1938 and 1939.{{cite web |url=https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/q/y/nm2y7k160q6r2d/Football_All-Time_Scores.pdf |title=Brevard Football All-Time Results |page=7 |author= |date=December 18, 2017 |website= |publisher= |access-date=July 8, 2022 |quote=}} In 1940, he moved to East Carolina Teachers College, now East Carolina University, where he assumed the role of head coach for men's football and basketball in 1940{{cite web |url=https://lib.ecu.edu/sites/chronicles/people/post/john-boyd-christenbury/ |title=John Boyd Christenbury |last=Tucker |first=John A. |date=June 25, 2019 |website=ECU Chronicles: Our History |publisher=East Carolina University |access-date=April 10, 2024 |quote=}} and baseball in 1941. Christenbury's 1941 football team went 7–0 and recorded the only undefeated season in East Carolina history. He did not coach football in 1942 due to the outbreak of World War II, although he continued coaching baseball through the 1942 season{{cite news |author=Lloyd Whitfield |date=May 11, 1951 |title=Baseball Has Come Long Way At College—Intercollegiate Sports Begin Decline |url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38238 |work=The Teco Echo |location= |access-date=July 31, 2022 |page=4 |quote=It was in 1942 when the U.S. government was drafting all young college boys that baseball as well as other sports began to decline. Many colleges dropped the most popular of all spring sports and Coach Christenbury could only draw up a 14-game schedule which saw only three college teams listed. The rest of the teams on the card were service teams which were loaded with professional material.}} and basketball until early 1943.{{cite web |url=https://ecupirates.com/sports/2016/7/7/hallfame-john-christenbury-html.aspx |title=Hall of Fame—John Christenbury |author= |date= |website=East Carolina University Athletics |publisher=East Carolina University |access-date=July 9, 2022 |quote=}}

Christenbury enlisted in the United States Navy in 1943. On July 17, 1944 he was killed along with 319 others when munitions exploded during the loading of a ship in Port Chicago, California.{{cite news |author= |date=October 28, 1944 |title=In Memoriam |url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37943 |work=The Teco Echo |location= |access-date=July 9, 2022 |page=1 |quote=Lt. (jg) John Boyd Christenbury, former coach and physical education instructor at East Carolina Teachers college, was killed in the explosion of two navy ammunition ships at Port Chicago, California, on July 18 [sic],1944. Christenbury came to ECTC in 1940. He was commissioned in the navy in March, 1943, and was given leave of absence from the college for the duration. He was from Statesville. He worked at Brevard college before coming to ECTC. His work in Greenville was outstanding, and he was popular with college officials, the students and the public.}} On January 6, 1953 the Christenbury Memorial Gymnasium was named in his honor.{{cite web |url=https://lib.ecu.edu/sites/chronicles/903-2/ |title=Memorial Gymnasium Dedication |last=Tucker |first=John A. |date=May 5, 2022 |website=ECU Chronicles: Our History |publisher=East Carolina University |access-date=April 10, 2024 |quote=}} He was inducted into the East Carolina Hall of Fame in 1993.

Head coaching record

=Football=

The following is a table of Christenbury's yearly records as a head football coach.{{cite web |url=https://ecupirates.com/documents/2024/8/15/2024RecordBook-Final.pdf |title=2024 Pirate Football Record Book |author= |website=East Carolina University Athletics |publisher=ECU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics |access-date=March 30, 2025 |page=61}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Brevard Tornados

| conf = North Carolina Junior College Conference

| startyear = 1938

| endyear = 1939

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1938

| name = Brevard

| overall = 5–5

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1939

| name = Brevard

| overall = 3–1–2

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Brevard

| overall = {{winpct|8|6|2|record=y}}

| confrecord =

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = East Carolina Pirates

| conf = Independent

| startyear = 1940

| endyear = 1941

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1940

| name = East Carolina

| overall = 5–3

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1941

| name = East Carolina

| overall = 7–0

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = East Carolina

| overall = {{winpct|12|3|record=y}}

| confrecord =

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record End

| overall = {{winpct|20|9|2| record=y}}

| bowls = no

| poll = no

| polltype =

| legend = no

}}

=Basketball=

The following is a table of Christenbury's yearly records as a head basketball coach.{{cite web |url=https://ecupirates.com/documents/2021/10/21/2021_22_ECU_MBB_Record_Book.pdf |page=29 |title=2021-22 East Carolina Men's Basketball Record Book| author= |date=October 21, 2021 |website=East Carolina University Athletics |publisher=ECU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics |access-date=July 8, 2022 |quote=}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = East Carolina Pirates

| conference = Independent

| startyear = 1940

| endyear = 1943

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1940–41

| name = East Carolina

| overall = 15–4

| conference =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1941–42

| name = East Carolina

| overall = 9–9

| conference =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1942–43

| name = East Carolina

| overall = 1–2

| conference =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = East Carolina

| overall = {{winpct|25|15|record=y}}

| confrecord =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record End

| overall = {{winpct|25|15|record=y}}

| legend = no

}}

=Baseball=

The following is a table of Christenbury's yearly records as a head baseball coach.{{cite book |author= |date=1942 |title=The Tecoan 1942 |url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15347 |location=Charlotte, NC |publisher=The Lassiter Press, Inc. |page=165}}{{cite news |author= |date=May 22, 1942 |title=Bucs End Athletic Season |quote=Coach Christenbury was able to find several teams which proved to make games of interest for the Pirates. By winning seven and losing seven the Teachers ended up with a .500 average. |page=4 |url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37907 |work=The Teco Echo |location= |access-date=July 8, 2022}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = East Carolina Pirates

| conference= Independent

| startyear = 1941

| endyear = 1942

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 1941

| name = East Carolina

| overall = 6–4

| conference =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| season = 1942

| name = East Carolina

| overall = 7–7

| conference =

}}

{{CBB yearly record subtotal

| name = East Carolina

| overall = {{winpct|13|11|record=y}}

| confrecord =

}}

{{CBB yearly record end

| overall = {{winpct|13|11|record=y}}

| legend = no

}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20131215214216/http://www.ecupirates.com/hallfame/john-christenbury.html East Carolina Hall of Fame profile]
[http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/ecu-icons/christenbury East Carolina University Icons Gallery profile]
{{Find a Grave|110496485}}

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Category:1907 births

Category:1944 deaths

Category:United States Navy personnel killed in World War II

Category:Brevard Tornados football coaches

Category:East Carolina Pirates baseball coaches

Category:East Carolina Pirates football coaches

Category:East Carolina Pirates men's basketball coaches

Category:United States Navy officers

Category:Deaths by explosive device