Paul and Dee Ann Oxley Hagemeyer
Paul J. Hagemeyer graduated from Oakland City College before receiving his master’s at Indiana State University, earning degrees in elementary education and administration. He taught in the Indiana elementary schools of Sullivan, Ella Williams (Boonville), and Lynnville over the course of his remarkable 40-year career. Most of his teaching was spent in the intermediate classroom at the fifth and sixth grade levels. He had a passion for educating students, especially in mathematics, science, and industrial arts, teaching every student of his many aspects of problem solving, hypothesizing, design, and construction. Paul also coached fifth and sixth grade basketball and track. Over the years, he was repeatedly stopped in public by former students who told him a favorite memory they had from his class or team.Paul was married to Dee Ann Oxley Hagemeyer. Dee Ann was a tremendous servant and the consummate supporter of Paul’s career. She was also a faithful supporter of education, assisting several people in earning college degrees. She modeled service through leading community initiatives to save the Stendal Post Office, transforming the Stendal School Gym into a community center, and supporting numerous fundraisers to aid many other community projects. In addition to her role in the community, Dee Ann was an amazing mother to her children, Lori Hagemeyer Cook and Janet Hagemeyer Tassell. Lori obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, while Janet earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction/Mathematics and Gifted Education and now works at WKU as a professor in the School of Teacher Education.
Paul and Dee Ann were also steadfast members of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. Through the church, they were involved in Lutheran World Relief, comfort tacking, food delivery for local shut-ins, and missions at home and abroad. Dee Ann cooked many meals, made gallons of soup, cleaned the church every week, and loved every moment of Vacation Bible School. Paul led many building projects and oversaw the church cemetery.
To honor their memories, friends and family established the Paul and Dee Ann Oxley Hagemeyer Scholarship. The fund assists WKU students who are studying to become educators. Paul and Dee Ann encouraged many to become teachers and felt it was the finest career to best serve society. Through this fund, Paul and Dee Ann’s legacies continue, fostering future educators in perpetuity.
As Paul once wrote in a poem: A new day is dawning, / The sky is lovely and blue. / There are paths out there to follow, / And chores and work we must do. / No one knows what this day has in store, / It could be struggle and strife. / But we do know what this dawn gives us, / It is the first day of the rest of our life!