ORIGINALLY WRITTEN JULIE ANDERSON
From his helping hand to his caring heart, Earl Wineinger put
everything he had into his work.
Wineinger, Hillsboro High School vocational agriculture
instructor,
died May 30 in Marion following two operations.
He was 62.
A Marion resident, Wineinger had taught at HHS for 10 years and
had
been in education for 38 years, including stints at Marion High
School
and Kansas State University.
?He had a big impact on kids,? said Glen Suppes, HHS principal.
?We
had kids who would come in in the morning and after school and
hang
out in his room and feed the animals. He was like a father or a
grandfather. Everyone knew he had a big heart.?
Suppes said Wineinger made his area a safe haven for students. He
said
a lot of at-risk students excelled because they had some place
they
could go.
Wineinger?s son, Ron, said his father was able to motivate average
students to do better than they ever thought they could.
Said Suppes: ?His classes were really popular and we couldn?t
teach
them all in a year.?
Among the subjects Wineinger taught were Introduction to
Agriculture,
Natural Resources, Horticulture, Ag Management, Ag Business, Ag
Marketing and Sales, Ag Mechanics I and II, Plant and Soil, Small
Animal Science, Animal Science and Entomology.
Wineinger?s wife, Mary Lee, said her husband felt the most
important
thing a teacher could do was to encourage students to do their
best.
Suppes said Wineinger liked quality even though he didn?t always
get
it from all of his students. He simply wanted students to respect
one
another in class and to learn.
?To a lot of kids he was their favorite teacher,? he said.
?He taught me a lot about caring for others,? said Emily Diener,
student advisor and past FFA president. ?He always put students
first.
He would stop what he was doing and help us.?
She said being in FFA and Wineinger?s positive outlook pushed her
toward an agriculture-related field.
?He was fun to be with,? she said. ?He let us do a lot of fun
things
and took a lot of field trips. He was really encouraging. If we
wanted
to do something, he would encourage us to do our best.?
Wineinger also took students on a number of field trips.
?He could have very easily, these last few years, sat behind his
desk
and taught from the blackboard and said, ?We?re not going to go
out
today.? But he didn?t,? Suppes said. ?He drove that bus and said,
?Get
on it, let?s go.??
He said Wineinger knew learning took place outside the classroom,
where students could experience the real world.
In addition to his classes, Wineinger also was the FFA sponsor.
?We?ve been able to boast to having the largest FFA chapter in the
state for many years,? Suppes said.
Wineinger, with the help of his wife, was the host at the national
FFA
conference for several years while it was held in Kansas City.
?One of the biggest undertakings was they ran the entire
backstage,?
Ron said. ?I think that was an example of putting kids first.?
Another favorite of Wineinger?s was the annual FFA banquet.
?He was pretty proud of that,? Suppes said. ?It was a big night.?
But he said Wineinger did not like recognition for what he did.
?He honestly didn?t like it,? Suppes said. ?He didn?t want to be
recognized. At the FFA banquet, he got kids going and sat in the
back
row.?
He also helped students succeed in competitions, including
district
championships, several state championships and one national
competition.
?He felt competitive events were important because when student
got to
compete, and if they did well, it built their confidence,? Ron
said.
?I?m sure he did a lot of other little things for kids as well,?
Suppes said.
Suppes said there were two things Wineinger never turned in. He
never
turned in the names of misbehaving students to the office and he
didn?t turn in receipts from money he spent out of his own pocket.
Wineinger would pay for hotel rooms and food. Once, he even bought
an
FFA jacket for a student.
?Half of his paycheck, I think, came back to the school,? Suppes
said.
In addition to money, he also spent a lot of time helping
students.
?He would always give that extra hour if asked for it, whether it
was
during school time or not,? Mary Lee said. ?He would give up
evenings
and weekends if they were getting ready for something or
studying.?
Mary Lee said she and her husband would go to the school and take
a
pot of chili to feed the students.
?He did what he wanted to do,? Suppes said. ?If he would have
retired,
he would have wanted to be here with the kids.?
Mary Lee said what mattered to her husband was working with the
students and seeing they did the best they could. It didn?t have
to be
FFA, either. It could be sports or any other interest they had.
She said he probably had a hand in helping students choose careers
?and it didn?t have to be in vocational agriculture.
?A lot of people look at the program and want to be a part of it
because of what he?s done with it, but there?ll never be another
Earl
Wineinger,? Suppes said. ?I think you can safely say he is a
legend.?
Suppes said everyone respected Wineinger. He didn?t bother anyone
and
knew how to use his community resources. Wineinger would tone down
staff meetings?not with words, but by his presence.
?He would rarely talk,? Suppes said. ?In fact, he didn?t talk at
all
unless he was asked a question.?
No matter what was being discussed, Wineinger would say it didn?t
matter to him. He would do whatever was asked of him.
His love for young people extended beyond his students to his
children
and grandchildren as well.
?He dearly loved his children and grandchildren,? Mary Lee said.
The Wineingers have three children and four grandchildren: Robin
Richmond and husband Tim of Marion and their daughter Misti; Matt
and
his wife Judy of Wichita and their daughter Abby; and Ron and his
wife
Tami of Fort Collins, Colo., and their children Elizabeth and
Andrew.
He also is survived by a sister, Fern Davis and husband Allen; a
brother, Max and wife Virginia of Norwich; and several nieces and
nephews.
?He knew a lot of people in the community, but he left his mark in
other places, too, not just Hillsboro,? Suppes said.
Suppes said Wineinger had been fighting his health the last couple
of
years, although no one really knew to what degree.
?He was hurting a lot more than people knew,? he said. ?That?s
just my
view of it.?
Wineinger recently had entred the hospital for a routine
examination
because he wasn?t feeling well, Suppes said.
?I think it was just a combination of things,? he said.
Services were held June 3 at Florence Christian Church, w
?You can safely say he is a legend?
