“I came to Milwaukee University School on a scholarship in the sixth grade. That and meeting Warren at MUS are the most important influences on my life,” recalled Marcia Carman Bowlus MUS ’49.

Husband Warren Bowlus, MUS ’48 echoed her sentiments. “Having attended MUS from K-12, I can only look back with the fondest of memories. Our class was one of great friendships and love for each other from the beginning and extending to the reunions we hold. What would a person do without those friendships and memories?”

To recognize and give back to the School that played such an important role in their lives, Marcia and Warren have included University School in their estate plans by naming the School in their will. In doing so, Marcia and Warren will provide future USM students with the same opportunities they had while at MUS. The small class sizes, caring faculty, challenging curriculum, and broad spectrum of opportunities – all that USM strives to achieve today – are among the many aspects of the MUS education that Marcia and Warren recalled.

“The structure and security created by Mr. Spigener and Mr. Strow and the warmth and support of all the teachers made learning fun and interesting, creating a lasting influence,” Marcia said. “In both the broad and specific aspects, our education was of the highest quality. I am very grateful that the faculty recognized my strong artistic drive and allowed me to substitute art classes for the required physics and chemistry classes, which allowed me to gain more experience under the guidance of art teachers Mr. Wurl and Mr. Govan. Their encouragement led to a scholarship at Layton School of Art, Milwaukee.”

Warren also points to the strong commitment of the MUS teachers and staff as vital to his experience. “Who could not remember Dorothy Albrecht thumping you on top of the head with her 'hammer nail' index finger when your behavior was not appropriate? Who could possibly forget the pre-class time in the coach's office talking about anything to Elmer Seefeld or Howard Boese? All were excellent influences.”

In particular, Warren remembered Mr. Strow. “Harold Strow remains prominent and foremost in my mind. He was fair, honest, sincere, a listener, and led by example. I know that he influenced my life and my career far more than anyone knows. He helped me develop into a 'people person.' "

Both went on to pursue careers in education. Marcia earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in art, teaching elementary school art at various public schools in four Midwestern states. Warren earned his undergraduate, masters, and doctorate degrees in athletics and physical education, completing his 37-year career in teaching, coaching and administration at UW-Stout, where he was Chair/Director of Physical Education and Athletics.

Now retired and living in the San Diego area, Marcia and Warren spend much of their time traveling and visiting their children and grandchildren, who live in various parts of the United States. Marcia also continues with her art through her watercolors, and recently donated a watercolor of the USM campus to the Alumni Association.

By remembering USM in their will, Marcia and Warren have provided a meaningful and important way to help future USM students. “There is no way that we can repay in full the experience that we had growing up in such an extraordinary atmosphere at MUS. But in our small way, we want to make it possible for other children to do so at USM,” added Warren.

Alumnus Designates Army Benefits to USM
as Part of His Estate Plans

Editorial Note: During an interview with Edward “Dutch” Immler in early 2005, he talked earnestly about his time at Milwaukee Country Day and then USM. Sadly, Ed passed away unexpectedly in May 2005 near his Okauchee, Wisconsin home. What follows are experts from that interview with Ed.

Ed “Dutch” Immler joined the Milwaukee Country Day School in his freshman year and has always appreciated the education he received there and at USM.  Although he left to attend a different school his sophomore year, he returned his junior year to the then merged University School of Milwaukee, graduating in 1968.  In gratitude for his experience at MCD and USM, Ed has included University School in his estate plans, by naming our School as a beneficiary of his military group life insurance. As a result, he joined the USM Heritage Society, which recognizes individuals who have provided for the School in their estates.

Ed points to a number of former MCD/USM teachers who profoundly impacted his education.  He remembers the time Tom Hughes took it upon himself to spend part of a summer helping Ed catch up on algebra.  Then there was Peter Straub and freshman English, in which Ed recalled how they spent an entire class period discussing the first few sentences of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

“At the end of the period, Mr. Straub assured us that the pace would pick-up in the following days, which was much to our relief,” he said.  “Yet as tedious as that lesson was, what I learned from that experience was that good literature was like an onion with many layers beneath the story line just waiting to be peeled away.”

Ed feels strongly that under the guidance of MCD/USM teachers and coaches like Mr. Hughes, Mr. Straub, Mr. Laird, Mr. Church, Mr. John and Mr. Laing, among others, University School provided a solid foundation and gave him the values and tools to succeed in life.

After graduating from USM, Ed attended Lawrence University, completing two terms before joining the U.S. Marine Corps as a Morse and Teletype Intercept Operator.  After three years in the Corps, he joined the U.S. Army where he served for 17 years, retiring in 1992.  While in the Army, Ed mastered a variety of jobs including Infantryman, Heavy Anti-Tank Crewman, and Chemical Operations Specialist.  He completed his military career as Observer/Controller at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.

After the Army, Ed returned to Lawrence to finish his college degree.  Upon doing so, he joined St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, WI.  Today he works with the guard company for the Milwaukee Office of the Federal Protective Service, Department of Homeland Security.

Giving back is second nature for Ed.  Not only does he financially support USM and other charities, but he also gives his time.  He has volunteered as a weather spotter for the National Weather Service, helped with the American Red Cross Disaster Response Team on shelter and damage assessment teams, been a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service and volunteered for Lawrence University.

“When I was stationed at Ford Ord, California, I monitored Channel 9 on the Citizens Band radio for REACT (Radio Emergency Associated Communications Teams).  It was surprising how many people went out on the Pacific Ocean with nothing more than a 5-watt radio, with its limited range under emergency conditions,” Ed said.  “As a result of my work with REACT, I participated in several search and rescue missions with Coast Guard Group-Monterrey.” 

It was his retirement from the Army that prompted Ed to think about yet another way to give back, this time through estate planning.  “It was easy to designate a percentage of my military group life to USM,” he said.  “It is the right thing to do, and a convenient way for me to provide USM with support for continuing its mission.”

Bequest Gift to Support MUS Scholarship Fund

During his four years at Milwaukee University School, Thomas Grootemaat, MUS ’51, distinguished himself as a top student, stand-out athlete, and leader in his class. Tom passed away in May 2004 at his home in Naples, yet through a bequest to University School, he will help students achieve their own academic and personal goals for years to come. Tom’s planned gift will be endowed as part of the MUS Scholarship Fund at USM.

A Tribute to Loyalty, Goodness and the Common Man

James A. Steinman 1926-2005

Whether it was from the stands at Laird Field, the bleachers in the ice arena, or a seat in the Virginia Henes Young Theatre, Jim Steinman, MCD ’45, watched and cheered generations of Country Day and University School students at every turn. Jim passed away February 15 at his home in Milwaukee. Our school community has lost a loyal alumnus and a dear friend.

Jim will forever be remembered as one of USM’s most fervent “cheerleaders.” Yet none of the students he applauded and congratulated were his children, his nieces or nephews, or his grandchildren. Instead, they were all of those to Jim and more. They were part of his school family, and that is what mattered to him most.

“Jim was like a patron saint who consistently cheered for the right team.  He was a good and gentle man who took great pleasure in simple things,” said USM Head of School Ward J. Ghory. “I know I will look up now and then and miss him when the USM family is all there.”

Jim enrolled at Milwaukee Country Day School in 1939. His parents were Carl and Thekla (nee Duemling) Steinman, and his father along with his three uncles operated Steinman Lumber Company, which was founded in 1872 by Jim’s grandfather. While at MCD, Jim was a member of the rifle club and the track team, and not surprisingly, was awarded the Pierce H. Bitker Cup for loyalty.

Upon graduating from MCD, Jim enlisted in the army and was stationed at Camp Hood in the Second Armored Division. Following his service, he enrolled in college on the GI Bill and studied accounting. Jim served as assistant treasurer at the Steinman Lumber Co. and then worked for over 30 years in the banking business. A bachelor, he lived his entire life in the family home in Milwaukee’s Washington Heights neighborhood until moving to Luther Manor Retirement Community in 2002.

Yet, it isn’t Jim’s career accomplishments or amassed wealth for which he will be remembered. Instead, he will be remembered by the many organizations and charities that benefited from his life-long devotion to philanthropy. At University School, Jim endowed two funds, one for financial aid and one to support faculty and staff professional development, both in his name. He was a generous donor to the Annual Fund and a longtime patron of the Christmas and Holiday Show. He supported the North Campus project, the USM Auction, the Arts, Athletics and Technology renovation, and the Campaign for USM. Jim was also a founding member of The Heritage Society, USM’s planned gift recognition society.

“In so many ways, Jim provided a model of loyalty, generosity, humility, and the basic tenet of giving with no expectation or desire of receiving,” said retired USM Headmaster, Harvey B. Sperling. “He sought not fame nor honor, but to be the good common man doing what he believed was right for the good of others, by simply applying common sense, commitment, and decency. He shall be missed.”

Giving back to the people and organizations he loved was Jim’s passion. He never pursued his own agenda. At USM, he focused on giving to help accomplish the goals of our students and teachers. He loved his school – regardless of how much it had changed since 1945 – and wanted those who came after him to benefit just as he had. Jim never sought attention, but preferred to be the one cheering, applauding, and giving standing ovations when our students found their moments in the limelight. USM did have one public occasion to thank Jim, by presenting him with the Alumni Merit Award at USM’s Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2001.

Jim’s support in Milwaukee was far-reaching and included the Boy Scouts of America, Mount Olive Lutheran Church and its parish school, Concordia University Wisconsin, the Bel Canto Choir, Milwaukee Lutheran High School, the Florentine Opera, and Piano Arts of Wisconsin. He was once quoted as saying, “I am very willing to make these donations. Nobody twists my arm. These are people, things, and groups I believe in. My Lutheran upbringing taught me early in life that the real satisfaction is in being appreciative and being able to give, not get.”

Jim is appreciated and loved by more people than he could have ever imagined and has touched more lives than we will ever know.

Gratitude to Milwaukee Downer
Inspires Legacy Gift from Alumna

“What do you do with a 13-year-old girl who is a ‘consummate day-dreamer’ and a mediocre student, but has obvious talent and interest in music, the arts, and the literary classics?” This question, Naomi Bernhard Levinson (MDS ’52) said, was one with which her parents struggled. “This was a dilemma for my parents, who had always been excellent students and very disciplined goal setters.”

Little did they know their precocious teenager and only daughter was about to take matters into her own hands, after her two older – and highly influential – brothers encouraged her to set her sights on an Ivy League education. “I hadn’t a clue what such a goal meant,” she said. “But, I soon discovered that in 1947, students who graduated from private preparatory schools had a significant advantage applying to the Ivy League colleges over those coming from local high schools.”

The astute, young Naomi quickly discovered that independent schools at that time were generally more predisposed to offer a rigorous “classical” curriculum to a selective, smaller student body and stress a higher level of preparation and performance. She set her sights on Milwaukee Downer Seminary.

“In the middle of my 8th grade year a serendipitous opportunity occurred. Downer was giving a scholarship entrance exam. I immediately announced to my parents that I intended to take the exam,” Naomi recalled.

She also recalled her mother’s reaction. “My mother said, ‘Go ahead, but I hope you don’t find the test too hard or mind if you don’t get the scholarship.’ About a week after the exam, Downer called offering me a partial scholarship. My mother and father were flabbergasted!” she added. Knowing they could afford the Downer tuition, the Bernhard’s declined the scholarship and in 1948 enrolled Naomi as a freshman at MDS.

The academic preparation and lessons learned while at MDS remain vivid in Naomi’s mind and among the reasons she has decided to include USM in her estate plans.

“Although I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I have come to realize that Miss Lemon’s English class gave me an excellent foundation in composition, writing and understanding of various literary styles and concepts,” she said. “I remember petite Miss Wittmer’s delightful Parisian accent and the obligatory two–week French lunch table . . . no food unless you spoke only French, and I still savor the memory of Ms. Matheny’s American History Lincoln tour during which another classmate (I think it was Sandra Jones) and I had a private chat with Adlai Stevenson in the Governor’s Mansion library.”

Naomi also cherishes lessons learned on the Downer athletic field. “Most of all, I relished what I had accomplished in athletics, as a 'learned athlete' making the Field Hockey B Team and evolving from a total neophyte tennis player into someone who could compete in local and state tournaments,” she added.

Her years at MDS gave her the tools to continue academic and athletic successes at Sarah Lawrence College. “The MDS environment of academic excellence and discipline provided important ingredients for my educational development at Sarah Lawrence.” While at Sarah Lawrence, she also played on the tennis team and wrote for the campus newspaper, both activities that had origins in her Downer experience.

After college, she married her husband, Carl, whose medical career landed them in several cities, before ending up in the San Francisco Bay area, where they reside today. She has raised two sons, earned a Masters Degree in Art History, sung in various chorus groups, played with a private chamber group and volunteered for numerous arts and education organizations. In 1977, Naomi established an art consulting and fine art appraisal practice. Now retired, she takes great pleasure in spending time with her 2½ year-old granddaughter, weekly hiking ventures with friends, traveling, and learning the art of the jewelry smith.

“I credit my achievements and joy in all of my endeavors not only to an innate ability to ‘self start’ and set priorities and goals with tenacity and discipline, but to the MDS educational environment which fostered and encouraged these qualities,” Naomi added. “The challenge and example of academic and athletic achievement at MDS helped to instill the basic skills and philosophy of living a life that matters.”

Naomi remains committed to independent education and USM. “A good private school can make a difference in a child’s development, depending upon the individual child’s personality and abilities,” she said. “What delights me is to see that USM appears to have synthesized the best traditions of Country Day, Downer, and MUS to provide a sound foundation and is extending its educational opportunities to the contemporary world with its more diversified student body and its creative, academic philosophy and curriculum. I am also pleased that the school continues to offer good athletic facilities and to encourage healthy competition in its varied sports programs.”