Roosevelt High School - Roundup Yearbook (Des Moines, IA)

Page 32 text:

Mr. Weidmaier was often seen with his handy pointer, which he used to drive home an idea. This photograph was taken only a month before his death. On a rainy day in late August Mr. Weidmaier used the charger to coach his football linemen in preparation for the first game with Valley. 28

Page 31 text:

National Merit Finalists Bob Gibbs, Mike Schatz, Mark Ross, Fred Aldrich, Rich Beatty. NOT PICTURED: Bob McLaughlin. Mike Schatz was Roosevelt ' s National Merit Scholarship winner this year, and the only winner from Polk County. The award, presented by the National Merit Scholarship Committee, amounts to a maximum of $1,500 a year for four years. Private concerns also make awards to many of the students who are cited as finalists by the committee. Mike Schatz Upper 3% of Graduating Class FRONT ROW: Cheryl Joan Piggott, Sue Myers, Steve Druker, Doug Ragla Moh, Ginger Starke, Lynn Patterson, Lynn Johnson, Sandi Foland, Debbie Jones. MIDDLE ROW: Sue Partridge, Bonnie Love, Ann Henneberry, Mary Harmon. BACK ROW: Fred Aldrich, Jeff Watters, Bob Gibbs, Mike Schati, nd. 27

Page 33 text:

In Memorium Vernon C. Weidmaier A high point of the 1963-64 school year, a time when all Roosevelt stood together in a unanimous feeling of pride, came when the Roosevelt football line stopped the powerful, number-two-ranked East High team within one foot of their goal line. This stonew r all defense gave Roosevelt its highest sense of accomplishment, erasing previous defeats and dw r arfing other victories. The man who coached this line, Vernon C. Weidmaier, died March 24 of a cerebral hemorrhage, which had struck him as he taught a class in plane geometry. Mr. Weidmaier received his bachelor ' s degree in mathe- matics from Northwest Missouri State College and his mas- ter ' s degree from Drake University. He became a Roosevelt teacher and coach in 1957, after having held similar posi- tions at Nevada, Stuart, and Fort Dodge, Iowa. Surviving Mr. Weidmaier are his wife, Martha; his son, Bill, a Roosevelt senior; and five daughters, Paula, Mary, JoAnn, Barbara, and Jackie. Vera Weidmaier was a demanding coach, and an even more demanding teacher. A high grade from him was con- sidered a high accomplishment. Mr. Weidmaier s classes were seldom dull. His students will remember his many anecdotes, his bits of philosophy, and his way of relating problems in logic to the problems of coaching a football team. Students will also recall with a smile the oblong circles and ill-formed rectangles which he drew on the blackboard and explained away by saying, Well, in geom- etry you can ' t prove anything by observation. In addition to being a teacher and coach, Mr. Weidmaier was also an inventor. He held several patents on his football charger, baseball bat caddy, basketball caddy, and his special hanger for football uniforms. He also made the isometric bin which are used by many Roosevelt athletes in training for different sports. Vernon Weidmaier believed in the importance of logic and hard work, and his students and associates were im- pressed as well as inspired by his devotion to these con- cepts. His influence will remain as long as those who knew him remember the lessons he taught and the examples he set. 19