The Waterloo Legacy Society has announced the newest members of its Waterloo High School Legacy Wall.

During a Nov. 7 ceremony in the WHS auditorium, Darryll Beard, DMD (Class of 1975), Allen Mueller, DVM (Class of 1986), Dennis Rippelmeyer (Class of 1967), former WHS teacher Jane Bailey and former WHS teacher/principal  Bill Saul will be inducted into the WHS Wall of Fame.

Darryll Beard, DMD

Beard has been a practicing dentist in Waterloo for  40 years. After graduating from WHS, he attended the SIU School of Dental Medicine and was inducted into the SIU Hall of Fame in 2015.

Beard received a number of fellowships, including the International College of Dentists, American College of Dentists, and he received the George H. Cushing Award from the Chicago Dental Society.

In 2016, he and Dr. Randall Markarian raised more than $150,000 and co-chaired a Mission of Mercy in Collinsville, providing more than $1.5 million dollars of free dental care to the metro area.

In addition to dentistry, he has also been a laborer, iron worker and Monroe County Deputy Coroner in addition to serving on various state and national dental boards. 

During his high school days, Beard was president of the WHS Student Council and Deutsch Klub, senior class vice-president, a St. Louis Post Dispatch Scholar Athlete, and he lettered in baseball, basketball and track.

In 2003-2004, he and business partner Charles Holmen coached sophomore basketball and were assistant varsity basketball coaches for WHS, attending 104 basketball games that season. 

Beard is also a member of Zoar United Church of Christ, on the board of directors for the Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, the Waterloo Sports Association and the Monroe County Unit of the American Cancer Society.

He is married to Ruth Ann (nee Schuchardt) Beard, and they have children Graham (Kara Schulz) Beard, Dallas (Erin) Beard and Brittany (Kenneth) Beard Brooks. They also have four grandchildren.

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, giving and, most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do,” Beard said.

He also thanked family, friends and fellow professionals for their help, including Dr. Phil Silsby, Larry Henson, Dr. Keith Dickey and Holmen. 

“And the greatest influence of all is my wife Ruth Ann Beard, who deserves a special thank you for everything she does for me,” Beard concluded.

Allen M. Mueller, DVM

Mueller earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1993 from the University of Illinois. He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural science. 

In addition to 30 years of experience in providing wellness, sick and surgical care to livestock, horses and pets, he had been the co-owner of Waterloo Animal Hospital for 13 years. 

He founded Mueller Veterinary Services near Columbia in 2010, which has grown to a three-doctor mixed-animal practice serving animals and owners in Monroe, Randolph, and St. Clair counties.

While at WHS, Mueller was heavily involved in FFA. He was chapter president and a section officer. He earned the DeKalb Award, State FFA Degree, Pat Kruse Memorial Award and was named a Star Agribusinessman.

Mueller’s other WHS activities included four years of jazz band, president of the National Honor Society, and he was an Illinois State Scholar and named to the “Who’s Who Among American High School Students” and the Society of Distinguished American High School Students.

Mueller is married with two sons, current member and president of the Waterloo Municipal Band, Bud Light Brigade trumpet player and member of the University of Illinois Extension Board for Monroe County and Kolmer Cemetery Board.

He credited his time at WHS and other members of the community for his decision to do business in Waterloo.

“I love seeing these folks anytime I can. This is a large reason I chose to anchor my career in my hometown. Let me say that I’m proud of my Bulldog days, and I’m living proof that a farm kid from rural Southern Illinois can accomplish a lot with a great education from a public school. I credit my family, friends, and especially my teachers for taking time with me, believing in me, and inspiring me to not give up and forever aim upwards,” Mueller concluded.

Dennis Rippelmeyer

Dennis Rippelmeyer always had a knack for electronics. In the early 1960s, he built a transmitter to be able to listen to music from his radio in the house while he mowed the lawn. That knowledge benefitted him greatly during his service time with the U.S. Air Force.

After completing USAF Electronic Communications and Cryptographic Systems School, he spent 3.5 years working on equipment used for encrypting messages between the military and our government. 

He helped install a satellite system in Thailand and helped set up the command center system used during the bombing of Hanoi.

After serving, Rippelmeyer went on to receive eight U.S. patents for the HVAC industry – one of which is still used in residential electronic thermostats.

He received the Emerson Electric Technology Award and Emerson Electric Innovations Award in 1993.

 The innovations award resulted in a scholarship for him to give to the school of his choice, which he gave to Valmeyer High School after the Flood of 1993.

During his time at WHS, he was the WAHISCO yearbook staff photographer for four years. 

During that time, he took the school’s camera home for the weekend to photograph a school event. That weekend, both of the local papers’ staffs were in Carbondale for a conference. A gas explosion occurred and he was the only one to get photos of the event. Longtime newspaper editor Robert Voris then hired him to work for the Waterloo Republican.

Rippelmeyer was also involved in band, chorus and musicals. He also built a robot for his industrial arts class and won the physics award his senior year.

Lately, he has been a member of the Waterloo VFW for 12 years, the Waterloo Municipal Band for five years, a volunteer at both Oak Hill and Martha’s Kitchen and the audio/video tech at St. Paul United Church of Christ.

“The first individual I would credit with cultivating my interest in electronics was Alfred Mueller, owner of Mueller’s TV and Radio. I was in junior high and would spend many of my free hours in his shop. I learned to repair customer electronics and eventually made service calls,” Rippelmeyer said. 

He also thanked WHS teacher Martin Oliver and colleague Robert Krump, who urged him to apply for an engineering position at White-Rogers/Emerson Electric. 

“I got the job and he became my mentor during my early years there,” Rippelmeyer said.

Jane Bailey

In her 15 years as a teacher, speech coach and drama club sponsor at WHS, Bailey had a profound influence on her students, several of whom are now employed in the Waterloo School District.

She was voted Teacher of the Month numerous times, and during her tenure with the WHS Speech Team—grew the team from an average of eight members per year to 30-35 members per year.

She was named Egyptian Forensic League (now the Southern Illinois Speech and Acting League) Coach of the Year and was president or consultant for several Illinois school speech and theater associations.

Her teams participated in over 180 speech tournaments, with at least one member reaching the state tournament 12 of those 15 years.

Under her direction, the drama club performed 33 productions, including the highest-attended show, “Under the Big Top,” which drew a total crowd of more than 800 people.

After leaving WHS, she has taught at the college level since January 2013. Bailey is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in education at Coastal Carolina University, where she was awarded the Teacher of the Year Award in 2021.

Bailey still has fond memories of her time in Waterloo.

“I had so much fun at WHS!” Bailey said. “It was the best of my career and I tell everyone in the higher education field, ‘You have no idea how hard it is to teach high school!’”

Bailey said her family – husband Don, two daughters and three grandchildren – is one of her “greatest accomplishments. 

Bill Saul

Saul was a lifetime educator who spent most of his career in the Waterloo School District. 

He graduated Gorham Community High School in 1955 and began his college career at SIUC that fall – at the age of 16. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in math with a minor in chemistry in 1959.

After graduating, he was a cadet in the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School. He also completed Explosive Ordinance Disposal Underwater Demolition Team Training at Indian Head, Md., in the fall of 1960.

While stationed in  Charleston, S.C., from fall 1960 through August 1963, his primary role was to dismantle bombs left over from World War II as a deep sea scuba diver.

He remained a member of the Navy Reserves until September 1990 and retired with the rank of captain.

After his time in the Navy, He began teaching algebra, geometry, chemistry and physics at WHS in 1963. He was also a club sponsor and the junior varsity basketball coach.

In 1965, he began a nine-year stint in the Belleville West High School math department before returning to WHS in 1974 as assistant principal.

He was WJHS principal from 1979-1989, Zahnow Elementary principal from 1984-1991, Rogers Elementary principal from 1991-1994, district curriculum coordinator from 1994-1998 and district special education coordinator from 1998-1999.

He was an elder at Concord Presbyterian Church in Waterloo, a Waterloo Lions Club member and club treasurer, recipient of the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award and a volunteer AARP tax preparer for senior citizens.

Saul passed away on July 20, 2004. He is buried in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

He is survived by his wife Nelda ‘Nel’ Saul; children Beth (Jim) Bicklein, Becca (Cort) Hubbard and Brian Saul; stepchildren Joan Curry and Linda (Peter) Vastola; grandchildren; and great-grandchildren.