WINGS Educational Foundation to the School District of Washington inducted its 10th class to the Hall of Honor Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Elks Lodge in Washington.
The WINGS Hall of Honor was formed to recognize alumni, community contributors and educators who have shown exceptional personal, community or professional achievement.
WINGS hopes that the stories of those honored will inspire and motivate current and future students of the district.
Brad Mitchell, WINGS Chair, also announced that a total of $502,404 in grants have been awarded by WINGS to SDOW teachers.
The 2018 Hall of Honor inductees were Doris Jones, who received the Educator Award; Tim Wood and Jim Perdew, who both received the Alumni Award; and Herb Homeyer, who received the Community Contributor Award. See the photos below.
Additionally, Dan Brinkmann, Automotive Technology instructor at Four Rivers Career Center, was named the WINGS Teacher of the Year.
Other finalists for the Teacher of the Year award were:
Cody Stapel - Special Education teacher at Washington West Elementary.
Melissa Ziegler-Science teacher at Washington Middle School.
Tim Branson - No Excuses teacher at Washington High School.
Heather Clark - Counselor at South Point Elementary
Jennifer Maune- Third grade teacher at Augusta Elementary.
Penny Wilmesherr, Washington High School Administrative Assistant, was named the WINGS 2018 Support Staff of the Year last spring.
Hall of Honor Class of 2018
James Perdew, Alumni Award
James Perdew was born in Washington in 1937 and graduated from Washington High School in 1955 where he served in a variety of leadership roles, including class president and Student Council president.
He was a member of the National Honor Society, participated in vocal and instrumental music, track, and theater.
Track was his passion, and some of his track records stood for many years, even though the high school did not have a track and the team worked out on the streets of Washington.
Perdew was a member of First Baptist Church in Gray Summit, and as a teenager felt God’s call to ministry in the military.
He pursued this goal for two years at Oklahoma Baptist University, then transferred to William Jewell College where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959.
In 1963, he earned his Master of Divinity degree from Midwestern Theological Seminary in Kansas City.
In October of that same year, he entered the United States Navy as a chaplain to serve God and country.
His 23-year career in the Navy took him throughout the United States and many other places, including Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and Greece.
His first assignment after chaplain school was with a squadron of destroyers homeported in Long Beach, Calif. He spent 19 of the next 27 months at sea, including time in the South China Sea during the Gulf of Tonkin crisis.
His next two-year assignment was to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. This assignment was cut short and he spent the next 13 months with the Marines in Da Nang and Chu Lai, Vietnam.
After duties at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, S.C., and a naval hospital in northern California, Perdew again returned to the South China Sea, this time aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, as it assisted with air support during the evacuation of Saigon.
His most enjoyable duty with the Navy was his three-year assignment to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York.
His next assignment was to the Chief of Chaplains staff in Washington, D.C., followed by his last duty as major claimant chaplain for USN security and telecommunications stations around the globe.
Perdew retired from his naval career in 1986 to join the staff of Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va., as minister of missions. In this work, he helped to establish a partnership with a sister Baptist Church in Moscow, led mission teams to various places from Bland, Va., to Mexico City.
Trips like this were highlights also of his time in the USN, as he led sailors and Marines to work with orphans in Vietnam, provide disaster relief after a typhoon on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
After 41 years away from Missouri, Perdew returned to his roots and became pastor at his hometown church in Gray Summit, retiring in 2011 due to health issues.
Perdew and his wife Janie live in Gray Summit, and in June 2018 they celebrated 60 years of marriage. They have three daughters, four granddaughters, and two great-granddaughters.
Tim Wood, Alumni Award
Tim Wood was born in Washington in 1953, graduated from Washington High School in 1971 and the University of Missouri in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education.
He attended the U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in the summer of 1976 and was commissioned a second Lt. upon his graduation from Mizzou.
In 1979, he graduated from flight school and earned his Naval Flight Officer wings. He was designated a bombardier/navigator on the A6E Intruder and flew with the Bats of VMA(AW)242 based at MCAS El Toro, Calif. His career with the Marine Corps lasted until 1983.
After working briefly as a production supervisor with American McGaw in Irvine, Calif., Wood was commissioned a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service in 1984. This began a 22-year career where he served in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Boise and Washington, D.C.
During these years he worked as a case agent and an undercover agent. He investigated con men, counterfeiters, escaped federal prisoners, scam artists, Nigerian bank fraud rings and masters of credit card fraud.
From 1992 to 1997, Wood served with the Presidential Protective Division at the White House protecting the lives of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
In addition, he directed and conducted complex domestic and foreign security advances, including the 1996 presidential campaign train through five states, and foreign security advances in Dublin, Paris, St. Petersburg, Budapest, Kiev, Singapore and Australia.
Along with other distinguished agents, Wood was selected to walk the inaugural parade route with President Bill Clinton following the 1997 inauguration.
From 2000 to 2002, he again served in Washington, D.C., as assistant to the special agent in charge, Presidential Protection Division.
In this position, he supervised all manpower and logistics in support of the security advances for all domestic presidential motorcades. He received the Distinguished Service Recognition for his efforts Sept. 11, 2001, and retired from the Secret Service in 2006.
From October 2006 to March 2009, Wood was director of security operations for the U.S. Olympic Committee and directed all security programs at the Olympic Training Centers in Colorado, California and New York.
He coordinated and managed security operations for Team USA at the Pan American Games, World University Games and the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
From 2009 to 2013, he worked as a special agent for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Internal Affairs, El Paso, Texas. From 2014 to 2015, he worked as project security manager for Murphy Oil Company in Cameroon and Namibia.
In 2016, Wood published his first book, “Criminals and Presidents: The Adventures of a Secret Service Agent,” which is available on Amazon. For the past five years, he has served as a PSAR (Preventive Search and Rescue) volunteer in Grand Canyon National Park where he recently helped save the life of an 18-year-old hiker who collapsed three miles below the rim of the canyon.
Wood and his wife, Michelle, have been married for 35 years and currently live in Colorado. Their daughter, Margaret, is a graduate of the University of Missouri and is currently in flight school serving in the U.S. Navy and stationed in Pensacola, Fla.
Herbert Homeyer, Community Contributor Award
Herb Homeyer was born in Washington in 1952, attended school at Campbellton and graduated from Washington High School in 1970.
He began work after high school as a journeyman tool and die maker and started working for DACA Machine and Tool in 1973.
Later he bought in as a third partner, but sold out in 1982 when he joined Witte Machine and Tool. He soon became shop foreman and began to take on subcontract jobs in addition to his regular work.
In 1985, he joined Wainwright Industries, and later switched jobs again to work for Hoffman Tool. He soon realized that he was ready to start his own shop.
By May of 1995, Homeyer Tool and Die was born in Marthasville with the hope of eventually having no more than five to 10 employees. Homeyer purchased 25 acres, drew up regulations and began Marthasville Industrial Tract.
He divided off what he needed for Homeyer Tool and Die and sold the rest to the Bank of Washington to subdivide and develop. He was more interested in developing a plan for community growth than becoming a real estate developer.
With early help from his father, wife, and two children, the business grew and today, known as Homeyer Precision Manufacturing, is in its 28th year with 60 employees, two plants and specializes in aerospace tooling, medical, laser components and high-voltage transmission.
Since 1966, Homeyer has been a member of the NTMA (National Tooling and Machining Association) which is comprised of 1,400 companies, over 2,000 members and over $40 billion in sales.
His involvement started with the St. Louis Chapter as a steadfast volunteer, holding the offices on the board of directors (2005-2011); vice president (2007–2009), president (2009-2011), trustee and served on several chapter committees such as the workforce development, membership, golf tournament and joint meeting committees.
He was awarded the NTMA 6S Excellence Award in 2010, the William E. Hardman Award for Excellence in Training in 2012 and the first Excellence in Manufacturing Technology Award in 2009.
From 2015 to 2018, he was selected to serve as national chairman of the NTMA board.
Homeyer has always believed in giving back to his community. Homeyer and his company support many private and public school fundraisers, the local food pantry, Washington High School Athletic Association, Marthasville Chamber of Commerce, Franklin County Heart Walk, Alzheimer’s Association, United Way and Boy Scouts of America.
He has served on many boards, including TEMCO Sheltered Workshop, Bank of Washington Advisory Board, Four Rivers Career Center, East Central College and Linn Tech.
Homeyer served on the WINGS Educational Foundation Board from 1998 to 2011, serving as president for several years. He helped set up the Endowment Fund, gave generously to it and currently sits on its advisory board.
In past years, he hosted several summer socials and gave tirelessly and generously of his time, energy, and resources to make these events successful.
He has been married to his wife, Elise, for 40 years. They have three children, Scott, Justin and Gretchen, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Doris Obermark Jones, Educator Award
Doris Jones was born in Washington in 1951 and graduated from St. Francis Borgia High School in 1969.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield in 1973 and a master’s degree in education from SIU-Edwardsville in 1988.
With experience playing volleyball in college, she began a teaching and coaching career at St. Francis Borgia. From 1973 to 1975, she taught third grade at Borgia and assisted Ray DeGreeff, who was head volleyball coach.
Her responsibilities included JV coach (one year undefeated) and varsity assistant.
Jones began her teaching career at Washington High School in 1975. She was hired to teach physical education, start the girls basketball program and be the assistant volleyball coach.
With no assistant her first year, she coached the JV and varsity basketball teams.
Jones had a successful first season with a record of 11-5 and coached for three more years. During these four years, her teams had a 75 percent winning record.
Jones name is on nine out of 20 volleyball championship banners in the Blue Jay gym. Starting as an assistant to Roger Warren and then as head coach, Jones played a significant role in making Washington High School into one of the elite volleyball programs in the state.
In her tenure coaching volleyball at WHS, her teams made a trip to the Final Four four times as an assistant and five out of 13 years as head coach.
As head coach, her teams won second in state in 1998 and 1999; third in 2006; and fourth in 1997 and 2005.
As head coach, Jones recorded over 330 wins with an average of 25-plus wins per year.
For many of her years as head coach at WHS, she also coached the eighth-grade volleyball team at Washington Middle School. During this time, the eighth-grade teams never lost a volleyball match.
Also, during many of these years she assisted with coaching seventh- and eighth-graders at Our Lady of Lourdes and club volleyball for 12-, 13- and 14-year-old girls out of East Central College.
During her years teaching at Washington High School, she started the aerobics and gymnastics classes and assisted with writing the health curriculum when it became a graduation requirement.
Along with John Carter, she became certified as a CPR instructor. They taught and certified many WHS students in CPR. They also put their training to use when they performed CPR on Assistant Principal Charles Waylen, saving his life.
In 1998, Jones became the head of the physical education department where she introduced changes to the curriculum emphasizing fitness/heart healthy for life activities. Class choice also was expanded for the students so they could take team or individual sports, still with the emphasis on fitness for life.
Jones retired from the Washington School District in 2007 after 34 years in education. In her first three years of retirement, she officiated volleyball, including one year at the state tournament.
Since 2010, she has been assisting the WHS volleyball program and in 2015 began coaching the eighth-grade team again. She continues to coach at WHS and WMS today.
While teaching, Jones was active in the Washington NEA and served as local president during the 1987-88 school year. In 2000, she served as president of the Missouri Volleyball Coaches Association.
In 2006, she was awarded the Peggy Johnson award, which is given for exceptional volleyball coaching in Missouri.
She has been married to her husband Ken for 19 years. For most of the last 12 years, they have been small business owners with two Cartridge World stores. She has two children, Julie and Bryan, and two grandchildren, Ty and Riley.
Hall of Honor Inductees
Pictured are the 2018 WINGS Hall of Honor inductees. From left are Tim Wood (Alumni Award), James Perdew (Alumni Award), Herb Homeyer (Community Contributor Award) and Doris Jones (Educator Award).
Hall of Honor Inductees
Pictured are the 2018 WINGS Hall of Honor inductees along with WINGS members and School District of Washington staff members.