Mary E. Stempel, nee Luehrman
Born a Groundhog in 1953 in Lexington, Missouri, I grew up on a farm east of Lexington. I attended the public schools in Lexington and graduated with the class of 1971. Normally, it would be understood that I would go to Warrensburg to the university there. However, the guidance counselor at WMA, Major Bill Coulter, a family friend, steered me into becoming a Bearcat at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Missouri. As my husband liked to tell it, we met before he could escape WMA. Carl D. Stempel, deputy brigade commander, and I met in December of 1971.
I was graduated from Northwest Missouri State magna cum laude with a B.S.Ed degree having achieved a double major in French and English. Carl and I were married May 22, 1976. When I moved to Iowa, most of the jobs were in Special Education so it was back to school, and I got my Special Education credits from the University of Northern Iowa. I have been involved in education in various positions for about 50 years.
Being a Lexingtonian and married to a WMA cadet meant WMA was bound to be an important part of our lives. I have many relatives including a brother who attended WMA. A great-uncle served on the Board of Trustees in the 1930’s. We attended Homecomings, Musters, Work Weekends, and contributed whatever we could to support the school.
We are the parents of two children. Sera Kathryn who was a Mil. Ball page and Charles Robert who is 2005 WMA Junior College Graduate. They were attending work weekend while in grade school.
In 2007, I was honored to be named Honorary Alumni by the Alumni Association and assigned the class of 1992, the year that work weekends began. I served as the secretary of the Alumni Association until it was dissolved. Also, during the last days of the association, I served as the editor of the Red Dragon Newsletter (with help from WMA alum, Webb Cole).
It is now my pleasure and honor to be named to the Executive Committee of the WMA Museum. The museum makes me happy. It also helps to remind the community of Lexington and the many, many WMA alumni of the part that academy played in history.