Sad News

Today, I received some sad news. One of my favorite teachers in high school passed away on February 5th. Mr. Winkelmann taught German and American History. He was very creative and made learning fun. While we were in school, I heard one year, he was tired of his students not being familiar with recent history [i.e. Vietnam War, Korean Conflict, Bay of Pigs and the events that occurred between 1950 and present day (around 1985)]. So, Mr. Winkelmann decided to teach his history class backwards. He started with the present day and finished up somewhere past the Civil War. I had him for German at the time but was fascinated with the American History work on the board and the discussions around the lunch table with the students in his classes.

His German classes were interesting, too. He was proud to say he was a first-generation American; his parents came to America during World War II. He said he was the man with all the angles (winkel is German for angle). Quite often he would burst out in song and sing "Danke Schon" and another one (the name and tune escape me for now). We would play Scrabble in German and use his huge German dictionary. A couple of times we took class trips (after school hours). Once we went to Ericka's, a German restaurant in Downtown Memphis. We were suppose to order our food in German and speak nothing but German to each other while there. Of course, we started speaking English after a bit but it was still fun. Another time we went to Trinity Lutheran Church for their Christmas program. It was all in German. The programs they handed out were in German with an English translation in the back. It was absolutely beautiful. At Christmas, I hear "Stille Nacht" ("Silent Night") in the original German in my head.

Mr. Winkelmann also took some of the students on trips to Europe. In 1984, my friend, Jaqi, went with him and a group of students from Southaven High to France, West Germany and Berlin. She even got to go to the Dachau concentration camp. The year I was suppose to go (1986) our trip was cancelled; a few months before we were to leave, there was a bombing in a Spanish train station that killed an American student traveling there.

Mr. Winkelmann made a mark on every one of his students. He was friendly, fun and made learning enjoyable. We will miss you, Mr. Wink. You were the greatest!!! (WINK 105)