OBITUARY Cerritos offensive linemen coach Webster Peters suddenly passes away

The Cerritos High football team poses for a group photo following its 52-31 victory last Thursday night against John Glenn High. Several members were showing a “W” with their hands in honor of offensive linemen coach Webster Peters who passed away earlier in the week due to a heart attack. Photo by Loren Kopff.

October 25, 2021

By Loren Kopff
@LorenKopff on Twitter

The Cerritos High football team and community was rocked earlier last week when it was found that one of its coaches, Webster Peters, had passed away due to a heart attack.

It happened on Oct. 18 when Peters was waiting on the platform of the Metro C Line (Green) at the Hawthorne/Lennox Station to come back to Norwalk before driving to Cerritos for the afternoon practice.

“It’s been a week that I don’t ever want to repeat,” said Cerritos head coach Brad Carter. “I can tell you that. We lost a great man, a great coach, a great father [and] a great husband. This was completely out of the blue and that’s what makes it tougher.”

“He was a very committed coach,” said Cerritos co-athletic director Robert Adams. “The kids loved him program-wide, both the lower division and the upper division kids. He worked really, really well, not only with the line-the offensive and defensive line but was really well-liked by all the players on both sides.”

Peters was a music teacher at Lennox Middle School, not too far from the Metro C Line station and would ride his bike to and from school, then drive from the Norwalk Station Cerritos for the practices in the afternoons.

Carter said when he didn’t show up to practice on Oct. 18 and didn’t respond to text messages and phone calls, he became suspicious. A missing person’s report was filed Tuesday morning when it was apparent that he didn’t show up to the middle school.

Carter said he received confirmation about Peters’ death from Brenda Peters, his mother, around 7:15 that evening. A vigil was held Tuesday evening near the practice field at Cerritos and again on Wednesday. He is survived by his wife Doris, Brenda and his daughter Kara.

“He was very close to coach [Demel] Franklin; he brought him in, and he became one of the best assistant coaches on the staff,” Carter said. “And one of the parents said it best, he cared about the kids. He went above and behind, more than just a coach. He was a father figure, giving rides and giving meals on the weekends and that’s why you could see how affected these kids are.”

“Coach Peters is among the most consistent guys that we had on our staff all the way back from pre-Covid,” Adams said. “When Coach Carter got hired, I think he was one of the first three or four coaches and was with him most of the whole way through.”