Mr. Kaukauna to serve as rallymaster for 90th rally
By Brian Roebke
Editor
The Kaukauna Alumni Founda-ion wanted to find a special person to serve as rallymaster at the 90th Kaukauna Alumni Foundation rally, someone who had widespread appeal and was a great storyteller.
They wanted someone who had never before been a rallymaster — to accomplish that task and it didn’t take long to find such a person.
Robert “Bob” “Dinger” Wurdinger from the Kaukauna High School Class of 1962 will serve in that role on Saturday, June 20, at Van Abel’s of Hollandtown.
Tickets are available for $30 at the Heart of the Valley Chamber of Commerce during their regular business hours.
“Dinger” has been known for most of his 83 years of his life for his involvement in Kaukauna sports, starting when he was invited as a 4th grader to join the 8th grade team at St. Mary School.
While in high school, he played every position on the football field except quarterback, playing on the varsity team for four years, five if you include a few games when his 8th grade season was finished and he was asked to play for the high school freshmen team. He was a big kid and was always at 8th grade practice at La Follette Park, which was two years earlier than most kids did.
“He had me starting at right guard in 4th, and then in 5th I was at right guard and a linebacker, and after that it was fullback and linebacker and long snapped,” he said. “I did it all.”
Wurdinger played two games at fullback and linebacker as an 8th grader on the freshmen them then was on the varsity team as a 9th grader already.
He was also a four-year track and field letterwinner, participating in the 100-yard dash, 220-yard dash, anchorman of the 880-yard relay, as well as throwing the shot put and discus.
His position in football was, “I went in when it started and I came out when it was over,” playing every position except quarterback and holding for kicks at one time or another. However, he was most successful as a fullback and linebacker.
Wurdinger has a lot of good memories from high school.
“I liked the people I had for teachers, I liked the way I was treated by all the teachers,” he said while noting he never gave them a reason to not like him. “I was no valedictorian in the class by no means but I never talked back to them or smarted off.”
His father told him he was there for a reason and if he wasn’t going to study, he might as well get a job.
Outside of sports, he was the class president and worked on the annual. Stubby Steffens and another guy liked to get him helping with things like moving bleachers because they knew he was a worker.
During his senior year, he started coaching the St. Mary’s football team after Francie Gerow asked him to help out after practice. They dropped football the next year and after some guys got a team started in Hollandtown, where he was the first coach.
All told, he’s coached for 54 years between the Raiders and KHS Galloping Ghosts and still remains a crucial part of the program, standing on the sidelines on Friday nights and even riding the team bus to road games.
Bob has been with his wife, the former Judy Summers, since sixth grade and they have four daughters, Lori, Jodi, Staci, and Penny, with 10 grandchildren.
They were in the same graduating class and were married in 1963 when he was 20 and Judy was 19.
Married for 63 years, they are both frequent attendees at community events of all kinds in Kaukauna, particularly sports.
During his senior year he was thinking of going to college but turned down Miami of Florida because he had trouble with poetry in the college admission test. He never had anything in poetry in school, so he was lost when it came time for him to answer questions about a poem.
The University of Wisconsin talked to him but they wanted him to attend a prep school, maybe so he could learn poetry, and Iowa State also was interested but also wanted him to attend a prep school.
“I wasn’t interested in that and Nubby Gerend came up to the high school and told me to come right down to the mill and fill out an application and he put me right on and I ended up being a millwright,” he said. “I wanted to use my hands.”
Before becoming a millwright, he had to put in his time before he could do the dangerous things like climbing up on cranes and the top of the smokestack. He told them he did it because none of his co-workers would do it.
He just found out none of his bosses are still alive and that’s not a surprise because he’s now 83 years old. He worked there 42½ years.
His daughters are Lori, who lives in Merrill; Jodi, who lives in Reedsburg; Staci, who lives in Appleton; and Penny lives in Kaukauna. All of his them have degrees, two from college, and two from tech, and he’s proud they’re all successful in life.
It’s not a surprise that Bob was often “chosen” to volunteer to help out when he was young because he was a good worker, something he’s shown the community his entire life. He was one of the leaders of the press box construction project in the late 1970s and he’s still putting in volunteer hours today.
He’s very proud of the success of Kaukauna High School athletics while being the smallest school in the FVA. Whenever Kaukauna goes to state in any sport, he’s there to cheer on the team. He’s especially proud of the fact that Kaukauna is now the smallest school in the conference but has had so many conference and state championships.
He was “awful proud” to be asked to be the rallymaster and promises that he has a lot to say but promises to not be too long.
