Two inducted into PHS Alumni Hall of Fame
Posted October 13, 2025
Plymouth High School recently inducted the newest members of its Alumni Hall of Fame: Ann Weeden of the Class of 1973 and Robert Mueller of the Class of 1983!
Inductees and their guests toured the school and enjoyed a lunch prepared by culinary arts students before the induction ceremony held Oct. 3 in the school auditorium as part of PHS Homecoming 2025.
Ann Weeden Class of 1973
Immediately after graduation, Ann Drewry Weeden started working as a nursing assistant. She became a Licensed Practical Nurse in 1975 and a Registered Nurse in 1979. She worked in surgery, obstetrics, and oncology.
She retired from full-time nursing in 2019, but volunteered in 2020 to administer Covid shots to hundreds of community members.
A mother of three, Ann welcomed an AFS student – Chloe from Belgium – in 2001-02, when her youngest child was a sophomore. “She opened our minds,” Mrs. Weeden said during the induction ceremony. “My world was changed.”
They hosted Cesarine from France the following year, and to date she has hosted a total of 20 students from 16 different countries.
“I encourage everyone to get to know these kids,” she said during the induction. “You’ll never forget the friends you make.”
Mrs. Weeden has been co-chair of the Plymouth AFS chapter since 2007, during which time PHS has welcomed 150 students from 48 countries. She has volunteered in numerous roles for AFS, including service on the World Class Board of Directors, and has been recognized by AFS National.
She thanked her husband, John, as well as PHS for being so supportive of AFS, noting that one of the first inductees in the PHS Alumni Hall of Fame was an AFS student (Kazuhiko Maekawa of Japan in 1958).
“We can only imagine how students from all over the world have positively impacted our own young people at Plymouth High School over the past 20 years,” John wrote in nominating his wife. “But it takes no imagination to realize Ann Drewry Weeden has helped broaden many young minds right here in Plymouth, Wisconsin.”
Ann Weeden and guests
Robert Mueller, Class of 1983
Born and raised in Plymouth, Bob Mueller played basketball at PHS, and continued to play in city leagues for the next 12 years.
His senior year of high school, he worked in the PHS kitchen as part of a co-op and that August joined the kitchen staff full time. “I thought I wanted to be a chef,” he told students during the induction ceremony, “until I saw the hours my friend was working in the field, and I realized that wasn’t the path for me.”
A custodial job opened in November and he took it, thinking he’d stay until he figured out what he wanted to do. “But over time, I realized something: I was doing what I wanted to do. I was helping in the education of students – not in the classroom, but by creating a clean, healthy, and welcoming environment.”
During his career with the district, Mr. Mueller served as head custodian at Fairview Elementary School for a time, then in 2003 became head custodian at PHS. He volunteered as advisor of the PHS Green Team and Recycling Club for 10 years. He retired in 2024, after 41 years with the district.
Mr. Mueller strived to make connections with students. “Bob brought a sense of trust, humor and concern, and true empathy into student lives simply by the way he made them feel like they were somebody,” noted Patty Talen, who nominated him.
Two senior classes chose him as commencement speaker, in 2007 and 2012. He also was chosen to be Homecoming Parade Marshall in 2024.
“Whatever you do in life, do it with passion and purpose – and please smile,” he told students during the induction ceremony. “I promise it’ll make you feel better, and you never know whose day you might make better with a simple gesture.”
Mr. Mueller also is a certified hunter safety instructor and a longtime member of the Sheboygan Falls Conservation Club.
A plaque about him soon will join 38 others in the PHS lobby – part of a display that he helped build in 2010. That plaque reads in part: “Bob's longtime commitment to consistently improving the halls of PHS with an infectious attitude and a genuine kindness has impacted many generations of PHS students and we are excited to honor his dedication!”
Bob Mueller and guests
PHS Alumni Hall of Fame
The Plymouth High School Alumni Hall of Fame was created by the PHS Student Council in 2010 to provide current students with role models and the extended community with the opportunity to honor excellence and celebrate graduates’ successes.
The Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made a difference, have achieved a high level of success, have exhibited leadership qualities, and have demonstrated community service. Distinguished alumni are men and women who have made exceptional achievements in endeavors including, but not limited to, education, science and technology, business, literature, athletics, and public service. Nominees must have graduated at least 10 years earlier.
Alumni Hall of Fame members
- Gilbert G. Gilman, Class of 1940, banker, inducted in 2015
- Dar Blanke, Class of 1941, bank president and civic leader, inducted in 2016
- Carol Edler Baumann, Class of 1950, political science professor, inducted in 2010
- Timm A Zimmermann, Class of 1953, nuclear medicine pioneer, inducted in 2010
- Luther Schriefer, Class of 1955, U.S. Navy Admiral, inducted in 2014
- Dr. Kazuhiko Maekawa, Class of 1958, the first foreign exchange student at PHS, inducted in 2010
- Dr. Philip M. Krueger, Class of 1958, ob/gyn and U.S. Forest Service Heritage Hero, inducted in 2011
- David G. Wacker, Class of 1958, teacher and renowned photographer, inducted in 2014
- Ed Brinkman, Class of 1959, PHS teacher and coach, inducted in 2021
- Barbara (Koehler) Lavallee, Class of 1960, artist and book illustrator, inducted in 2011
- Wayne Huberty, Class of 1960, certified public accountant, inducted in 2012
- Nancy Blick Jusky, Class of 1960, community activist, inducted in 2013
- Sister Kathryn Schilling, Class of 1961, who ministers to the poor in Nicaragua, inducted in 2011
- Ralph C. Stayer, Class of 1961, head of Johnsonville Foods, inducted in 2018
- Ron Nicolaus, Class of 1963, longtime Plymouth fire chief, inducted in 2023
- Stan Struve, Class of 1964, youth coach and advocate for those with special needs, inducted in 2019
- Lou Gentine, Class of 1966, owner of Sargento Foods, inducted in 2012
- Thomas Kestell, Class of 1966, dairy farmer, inducted in 2016
- Allen Nohl, Class of 1968, advocate for veterans, inducted in 2018
- Keith Abler, Class of 1969, musician and civic leader, inducted in 2022
- Tony Evers, Class of 1969, then-State Superintendent of Public Instruction and later Governor of Wisconsin, inducted in 2011
- Scott Richards, Class of 1969, teacher and coach, inducted in 2022
- Chuck Schumacher, Class of 1969, activist in Southeast Asia, inducted in 2020
- Roger Boeckmann, Class of 1971, automotive technician, inducted in 2015
- Gerald Krebsbach, Class of 1972, founder of KW Electric, inducted in 2024
- James Hemauer, Class of 1973, advocate for those with disabilities, inducted in 2013
- Gary Gritt, Class of 1973, co-founder of High Tech Tool and Die, inducted in 2017
- Joan Vorpagel, Class of 1973, Parkview Elementary School secretary, inducted in 2014
- Ann Weeden, Class of 1973, nurse and co-chair of Plymouth AFS chapter, inducted in 2025
- Dr. Sharon (Blanke) Chappy, Class of 1975, nursing educator, inducted in 2015
- Bill Miller, Class of 1980, outdoors writer and expert, inducted in 2013
- Robert Mueller, Class of 1983, Plymouth School District custodian for 41 years, inducted in 2025
- Gina Krueger-Grapentine, Class of 1984, teacher and coach, inducted in 2023
- Laura Schwartz, Class of 1991, speaker and author, inducted in 2012
- Dr. Joel Dudley, Class of 1995, professor of genetics and genomic sciences, inducted in 2017
- Lisa (Peplinski) Jaster, Class of 1996, third woman to graduate from the Army Ranger Program, inducted in 2016
- Beau Hoopman, Class of 1999, member of the 2004 and 2008 Olympic rowing teams, inducted in 2017
- David Peters, Class of 2001, champion of those struggling with addiction and mental-health issues, inducted in 2021
- April Doebert-Fischer, Class of 2004, occupational therapy professor and advocate for at-risk children, inducted in 2019
Learn more:
• Visit the PHS Alumni Hall of Fame webpage, which includes bios of all Hall of Fame members.
• Read more about 2025 Plymouth High School Homecoming.