Nov 2, 2017 | Inspiration Wall Honorees
Nominated 2017. W.M. “Mike” McMonigal graduated from Berlin High School in 1964. He attained a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Marquette University in Milwaukee in 1968, going on to get a Juris Doctorate from Marquette’s Law School in 1971.
Returning to Berlin he joined his father in his law practice here. In 1975 he became the Family Court Commissioner for Green Lake County, a position he held until 1992. In that year he was appointed Circuit Court judge for Green Lake County by Governor Thompson. He was reelected each term after until he retired in 2011.
While pursuing his busy law practice, Mike was asked to sit on the Berlin Hospital Association Board of Directors in 1972. Three years later he was elected Chairman of the Board and served in that capacity until 1985. He was only 28 years old at the time. During this time the hospital expanded their facility, their services and equipment.
Berlin’s growth was always important to him so he also served as a director for the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Berlin Industrial Development Corporation.
One of his successes was promoting a referendum to reduce the City Council to a six person Council. That referendum passed in 1988. In 1991 he chaired a committee looking into upgrading Highway 116/County Trunk X to connect directly with U.S. Highway 41. With hard work, in 1995 new State Highway 91 was dedicated.
During the early 1990’s a Housing Task Force was appointed with Judge McMonigal as chairman. Through the efforts of this committee, major changes to housing initiatives and special assessments were made. Ten years later this committee was reactivated and Judge McMonigal again served as chairman.
During this time and into the present Judge McMonigal has been very involved in the Eureka Locks project and other Fox River promotions adding his expertise and guidance, giving back to the community where three generations of his family have lived.
The Judge shares these words: “Education, regardless of career chosen, remains the best guarantee for a successful life.”
Dec 15, 2016 | Inspiration Wall Honorees
Nominated 2016. Lumberjack, Farmer, Machinist, Foundryman, Engineer, Inventor, Auto dealer.
A man with many interesting stories to tell is Theodore H. Fortnum, more commonly known by his friends as “Tim” so stated an article in a February 1961 issue of the Berlin Journal.
Tim was born August 28, 1874 on a farm at Green Lake center, the 9th child of an immigrant family who came to the U.S. from England. He attended a country school up to 8th grade but continued his love of learning with correspondence courses, reading, and life experiences.
Besides farm work, Tim spent winters in lumber camps and later on had lots of stories to share. In 1899 Tim came to Berlin to go into business with his father-in-law, Niels Johnson, who operated a foundry and machine shop. With Mr. Johnson’s instructions and a correspondence course, Tim became a very proficient machinist and engineer. Some of the work done by the shop was for the quarry and cranberry industries and the steamboats and dredges that traveled the Fox River. During his career as a machinist, he designed and built small gasoline engines for both farm and marine use including a 1 cylinder gas engine.
The advent of the automobile sparked Tim’s interest in cars. He sold his first car in 1909, a one cylinder Cadillac. In 1912 he became the agent for the Reo auto and then sold Chevrolet, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Liberty, Overland, Willys Knight and Whippet cars. In 1932 he became a Dodge dealer. In 1959 he was honored by Dodge for his 25 years of service.
Tim joined the Berlin Fire Department when he moved to Berlin. He served the department for 46 years and pioneered the change from horse-drawn fire equipment to its first motorized truck in 1916. He was the engineer for this truck and also operated the old steam fire engine.
Tim came out of machining retirement to help the war effort during World War II. He set up the machine shop to do work for Clintonville Four Wheel Drive and Fairchild Aircraft.
Mr. Fortnum was an enthusiastic civic leader. He was a charter member of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce, served on the Green Lake County Board and on the Berlin City Council. In 1961 he retired from the Berlin Hospital Board of Directors, having served 42 years and was made an Honorary Life Member of the Board. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, a life member of the Order of Eastern Star, and a long time member of the Berlin Rotary.
He often told his family and employees:
It will take your whole life to build your reputation but you can lose it in 10 minutes.
Dec 15, 2016 | Inspiration Wall Honorees
Nominated 2016. Mark G. Doll graduated from Berlin High School in 1967. He earned a B.A. in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1971 and a M.B.A. degree in 1975. The son of a former Berlin High School principal, Mark was born in Berlin the oldest of three children. He credits his teachers (including his dad, George) with giving him a great base to learn.
Following his undergraduate degree, Doll started at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. in the investment department and worked there in various roles for the next 40 years. While working full-time he completed a Masters degree in business.
During his investment career, he worked primarily with publicly traded assets (bonds and stocks) with a primary focus on bonds. His responsibilities and titles grew during the ensuing years. From 2008 until his retirement in June of 2012, Doll served as Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, reporting to the President. He oversaw professional staff of 220 in three investment departments/companies and was responsible for $164 billion in general account assets and $19 billion in separate account assets.
Doll led NML through one of the most turbulent financial periods since the Great Depression, ushering in an era of greater investment discipline while significantly contributing to NML’s product value and financial strength.
He has shared his talents with numerous non-profit organizations such as the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Finance Council and the Milwaukee Art Museum Investment Committee, the Investment Committee for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and The Greater Milwaukee Foundation. He was the Milwaukee Board Chairman for the American Red Cross and on the Investment Committee for the American Red Cross-National in Washington D.C. He served two terms on the UWM Foundation Board on of them as Chairman.
In 2016 Governor Scott Walker appointed Doll to the State of Wisconsin Investment Board. The largest portion of the assets managed by SWIB is the trust funds of the Wisconsin Retirement System serving more than 570,000 participants.
He’d like to share these words:
Use your failures as a learning opportunity to reach your true potential.
Dec 15, 2016 | Inspiration Wall Honorees
Nominated 2016. Beverly Ann graduated from Berlin High School in 1948. She attended Oshkosh State Teacher’s College and graduated from Palm Beach Junior College in West Palm Beach, Florida.
What started out as a little girl’s dream of dancing became a life-long passion and avocation for Beverly. She began taking lessons at the age of eight and continued to adulthood. All during this time she took every opportunity to perform for family and friends. Another talent she developed was learning to play the marimba. In 1942 she appeared on a radio station in Madison playing her marimba. She has shared this talent over the years in special appearances at church and in the community.
In 1964 she returned to Berlin and was encouraged by former teachers to open her own dance studio. Having previously taught in the Children’s Dance Dept. for the Fred Astaire Studio while in West Palm Beach, this seemed a perfect fit. With the help of her parents she opened Beverly Ann’s School of the Dance. Over the years hundreds of Berlin=s youth and adults would spend class time with “Miss Beverly” honing their own dance skills. One hundred plus students of all ages and experience levels took her classes each year. She also held classes in several surrounding communities.
To assist her in her work, Bev was a member of the National Association of Dance and Affiliated Arts (NADAA) Greater Midwest #37. She attended conventions and workshops, learning the latest dance steps and routines from other instructors. In addition she served on the faculty for the organization and held the offices of Secretary, Vice-President and twice President.
In 1999, after 35 years, she retired her studio. This did not signal the end of her dancing career, however. Spending winters in Florida, she became involved with a dance troupe there. All the dancers were in their 70’s and did routines to show tunes performing in and around the area.
Believing that dance develops poise, discipline and self-confidence, Beverly shared that philosophy with her thousands of students, some multiple generations of families and proved that a touch of culture can grow anywhere. The inspiration provided in that little basement-turned-dance-studio positively impacted the lives of her students to live their dream.
Words to Live By: Dance is beautiful, graceful, powerful and fills us with so much joy. Remember to cherish every moment, friendship and DANCE because one day, they will be your wonderful memories.
Oct 22, 2015 | Inspiration Wall Honorees
Nominated in 2015.Robert Wright was a member of one of the early families of Berlin, the first one arriving here in 1853. Through all the generations the Wrights held a keen interest in community and worked for its betterment. Robert, of the fourth generation, was no different. After graduating from Berlin High School in 1920, he spent about two years at Beloit College and then went to work for Blair & Co. of Chicago, (an investment company) from 1925 to 1929 until the stock market crashed. In 1930, he and his father, Fred W. Wright started the Berlin Finance Co. He remained with this company until 1944 when it was liquidated.
He was then named President of the First National Bank of Berlin and remained in that position until his death in 1969. The bank enjoyed steady growth under his leadership. In 1952 he was one of a group of community-minded local investors who formed the Berlin Industrial Development Corporation. This corporation was responsible for bringing several businesses to Berlin, increasing job opportunities for the area.
In his 25 years as President and Chairman of the Board of the First National Bank, he worked tirelessly to encourage businesses to locate to Berlin sometimes using money from his own pocket. Many unsecured loans in those days were made on good faith and Bob’s belief in each person’s ability. Only after his death did people learn of some of his philanthropic deeds. He took it upon himself to mentor young people who showed promise and drive, writing letters of recommendation and helping them find their path. He was said to be as much a friend to the janitor as he was to CEOs of large corporations.
The first Wrights developed a slogan: ‘Wright wrongs no man’ and each succeeding generation lives by that creed. Pearls of wisdom he liked to share with his family and others: It’s OK to make a mistake……just don’t make the same mistake twice. And ‘Say hello to everyone and remember their name.
Oct 22, 2015 | Inspiration Wall Honorees
Christine Stark Christepherson graduated from Berlin High School in 1975. She went on to earn a B.A. in music education at St. Olaf College serving as co-concert Mistress of the St. Olaf Orchestra during her time there. An accomplished violinist, she had been a member of the Oshkosh Civic Symphony during grades 7 to 12 honing her skills and experiences.
“Mrs. C surely was a force for the good parts of life.” “Mrs. C. made me the person I am today.” These quotes, attributed to Christine, are just a sample of the many from former students.
She did not command a huge salary or a title other than Director of Music at Hillman Community Schools, a remote low-income area in the northern part of lower Michigan. She did command love, respect, and eternal thankfulness from her students who yet today witness to how she changed their lives for the better and made them the people they are today – even now, two years after her death and ten years after being stricken with a brain stem aneurysm.
Having very little money to work with did not stop Chris from having an excellent school music program. She not only repaired, laundered and altered band uniforms when needed, but repaired band instruments as well. She taught band and choir, K-12, most of her 21 years at Hillman. Her teaching skills took the High School band and choirs to MSBOA Competitions on numerous occasions and received several 1 and 2 ratings.
Christine shared her musical talents with the community, playing organ and piano for her church, violin in the Alpena Symphony Orchestra, and in trios and quartets at weddings and funerals. She was also very involved in the lives of her family. When her brain injury stole most of these things from her, she still found ways to participate in life, family and church.
Her favorite sayings: “Set your sights on a challenge and enjoy the experience. Use your skills to make a difference at home and at work.” “If you open up to music it can take you anywhere. Music does not judge or care how good at it you are, but that you appreciate it for the art that it is.”
