Maria was born in England in 1945 and immigrated with her parents to the United States two years later on a decommissioned troop ship later arriving in Milwaukee Wisconsin by train. Her mother was a nurse, and her father was in the Royal Air Force during World War II. She graduated from Greenfield High School in 1963. While in school she was crowned Miss Greenfield in the junior Miss Wisconsin pageant of 1962. She won first place with her senior science project in the Wisconsin Science Fair and was awarded a full 4-year scholarship at Mount Mary University. She graduated in 1967 with a double major in Biology and Chemistry. She was a member of the Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society. Summers she worked at a quality control chemistry laboratory at Miller High Life in Milwaukee.

Jake was born In Berlin in 1922 and graduated from Berlin High School in 1938. He entered the Army in 1942 and was in the Signal Corps in Europe for 37 months during World War II where he gained his lifelong communicator skills. He was part of six companies for which he received the Silver Star. Jodarski attained the rank of First Sargent. He was part of the battles of Normandy, the Ardennes Offensive (also known as the Battle of the Bulge) and others throughout Europe. In later years he was a featured speaker at Berlin High School sharing his war experiences with the students.

Roberta ‘Bobbie’ Erdmann made Berlin history when in 2005, she was the first woman elected Mayor in Berlin’s 148-year history of self-government. To date, she is still the only woman to hold this office. She began her service to the City as a member of a number of Boards and Commissions and was elected to represent the City’s 2nd ward as Councilperson, for five terms. She retired from that role in 2023.

Bill was born in Berlin and graduated from Berlin High School I 1951. Two years later he was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving as a Combat Engineer. Upon his return to Berlin in October of 1955, he began working in the family business, Drectrah’s True Value Hardware Store. This popular store was located on N. Huron St. and had been started by his father in 1932.

Dick, as he was known, grew up on a dairy farm near Berlin. After graduation from Berlin High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy becoming a radar technician, based on his high aptitude in math and science, thanks to his well-rounded education at Berlin High School....

Jim Gurkowski, a life-long resident of Berlin and a 1968 graduate of Berlin High School, has devoted many hours to the Berlin sportsmen’s community. Trapshooting – and giving back to the sport through volunteer work – has been a true passion for Jim. It began at the...

A member of the 1957 Berlin High School class, Robert L. Seward, M.D. graduated from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1966 and has been a certified American Board Internal medicine member since 1978. He is the son of Dr. Lynn and Gladys Seward, and has a...

Peter Johnson graduated from Berlin High School in 1978. He considered becoming a carpenter after high school, but was persuaded by his family physician to become a medical doctor. Johnson, however, didn’t think he was smart enough. With encouragement from both...

Bob Malchetske, a lifelong resident of Berlin, has devoted many hours to better and make a difference in the Berlin community. For this dedication, he is a 2019 Honoree for the ‘Be Proud, Be Inspired’ Inspiration Wall. Malchetske’s participation in the Berlin...

Luther S. Olsen was born in Berlin in 1951. He graduated from Berlin High School in 1969 and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1973. He completed the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program Group IV in1990-1992. Senator Olsen was...

Lucy Smith was born in 1850 in Markesan, WI. She was educated at the Musical Academy in Beaver Dam and the Notre Dame Convent, (now Mount Mary College) in Milwaukee. After teaching school for several years, Lucy married Charles Secor Morris, a young entrepreneur of...

Nominated 2018. Jeanie Walker graduated from Berlin High School in 1960 as valedictorian. She received her BS degree in education from UW-Oshkosh and married Robert Bruce in 1963. She taught in elementary schools in Oshkosh, then in Bozeman, Montana while Robert was...

Nominated 2018. A 1970 graduate of Berlin High School, Gene Trochinski went on to a 40-year career as teacher, coach and administrator, 36 of them in Orange County, Florida. During his tenure at Dr. Phillips High School he built an athletic program that earned 86...

Nominated 2018. The Brooks family moved to Berlin in 1948 when Dick was 19 years old. Dick, his dad, Gary, and brothers, Raymond and Glenn were hard-working entrepreneurs who owned and operated various businesses in Berlin: Wisconsin Tanktainer, Carri Craft...

Nominated 2017. A native of Milwaukee Wisconsin, Phillip Sass left his job as a food chemist and moved to Berlin in 1973 when he and a partner launched Wisconsin Spice, Inc. in an abandoned 19th century building located on Capron St. In the 35 years since its...

Nominated 2017. Stephanie Ceman graduated from Berlin High School in 1983. At that time she headed for UW-Madison, planning to go to medical school. While there she majored in bacteriology and graduated with distinction in 1987. Part of her preparation for medical...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Nominated in 2015. After graduation from Berlin High School in 1936, Ben Seaman was working in a factory in Milwaukee when the 2nd World War began. Because that industry was essential to the war effort his entry into the U.S. Navy was delayed. It was while he was on...

Nominated 2014 Rolf Peterson graduated from Berlin High School in 1957. Not having an interest in college, he joined the Navy. While serving his country he began to realize he had the intelligence to go to college. After the Navy he enrolled at Oshkosh State College...

Nominated 2014 David C. Good graduated from Berlin High School in 1966. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree from UW-Madison and later his M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) from that school. He spent his residency at the University of Minnesota Hospital, Minneapolis, in...

Nominated 2014 George L. Hess Jr. graduated from Berlin High School in 1955 and served four years in the United States Air Force, later receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree from UW-Oshkosh. From 1960 to 1962 he worked in the electronics field in Buffalo N. Y. and...

Nominated 2014 Russ Chier learned the meaning of hard work and responsibility by working in the family business, C. A. Chier Sand Co. owned by his father, Clifford Chier. After graduating from Berlin High School in 1955 he went into the business full time learning all...

Nominated 2013 Alfred James Treder, and family moved to Berlin when he was 5 years old. He has worked various aspects of space and missile Guidance & Control systems for over 50 years, from conceptual design through development and flight. Since the early 1990s he...

Nominated 2013 All three men, father and two sons attended Berlin schools. They were involved in the C.A. Peck Hardware Co. and Peck’s Hardware Manufacturing Co. Fred drew the patterns for the first rural mailboxes which are still used today. Their involvement in the...

Nominated 2013 Judy LaBuda graduated from Berlin high School in 1975. She went on to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitation Education from University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she graduated with Distinction and a Masters Degree in Behavioral Disabilities –...

Nominated 2013 Tom Klein was a 1953 Berlin High School graduate. As a sophomore, he was injured in a high school football game that left him a quadriplegic for the rest of his life. Prior to the accident he was an outstanding athlete in grad school and high school,...

Nominated 2013 After graduating from Berlin High School in 1973, Julie continued her education earning a Bachelor of Arts in Classics (the study of antiquity) at St. Olaf College and went on to earn her Masters Degree in Divinity in 2012. She has been an entrepreneur...

Nominated 2013 This 1982 graduate of Berlin High School went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from UW-Platteville. It is his sideline/hobby that has earned him the title of “World Champion” and gained him a strong reputation in powerlifting....

Nominated 2013 Connie graduated from Berlin High School in 1965 and went on to receive her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from UW Madison. She continued her education receiving a MSN at DePaul University, EdD from Northwestern Illinois Univ., Physical Assessment...

Nominated 2013 After serving as Senior Class President and graduating from Berlin High School in 1956 and then Northwestern University in 1960, Jim Carey was not sure where life was going to take him. Then the war in Vietnam and the draft board helped make that...

Nominated 2013 Born in Berlin, Wisconsin in 1890, the son of a Scottish stone cutter, Donald L. Brown was an early innovator of aviation, having been involved with the development and building of aircraft engines in aviation’s early years. Although he was a hard...

Nominated 2013 William Blakefield graduated from Berlin High School in 1935 and Ripon College in 1939, later serving in the Army from 1939 to 1978. He was the first commanding general of Army Readiness Region III and deputy commanding general, 1st U.S. Army, Fort...