a publication for alumni, family, and friends

Gloria Hanson
University Relations

In the history books of Dakota Wesleyan you will find children and grandchildren who have taken the same path as their parents and grandparents. And when you page from chapter to chapter, you will surely recognize familiar names. What you won't find is another family like the Nebelsicks.

Their story begins in the 1950s and continues today with a third generation, all of whom are devoted to the education of our young people. Of the five children born to Earl and Rowena Nebelsick, all attended Dakota Wesleyan and have chosen the same profession, although varied.

A tradition in the making

At about the same time that Earl Nebelsick wanted a shot at playing college basketball, Rowena Roman was contemplating a career in nursing. A year had already come and gone since their high school graduation, hers in Rosholt and his down the road in Farmer.

It was 1952 and the time seemed right for the two, who had yet to meet, to get on with their lives.

Earl enrolled at Wesleyan and prepared to start classes that fall, while Rowena, who admits she wasn't sure of a career choice, took the advice of her family minister and signed up for training at the Methodist School of Nursing. She had worked a year after high school and saved the $325 it would take for three years' worth of tuition.

At the urging of Ted Roman, Rowena's younger brother, Earl and Rowena met. "The nurses would try to get the guys away from the Wesleyan girls," Rowena confesses. "But it didn't always work." However, this time it did.

Earl's first year of school and college basketball was interrupted when he received his draft notice and left for a two-year stint in the Army.

Rowena continued with her training and received her nursing diploma and registered nurse certificate in 1955, and Earl, using the GI Bill, returned to DWU and pursued his bachelor's degree in education. They were married on Jan. 14, 1956, by the same minister Rowena says influenced her to choose nursing, the Rev. James Patten.

"I worked at one hospital and then the other, back and forth, as long as we lived in Mitchell," Rowena said. "And in between I had the boys." Terry was born in 1956, Larry in 1957 and Gary in 1959, the year Earl graduated.

Earl taught school and coached at Fulton for four years and then at Emery for a year before moving to Hudson. He spent six years at Hudson as a teacher and part-time principal, and added a master's degree in secondary administration from South Dakota State University in 1969. By then, daughters, Lori and Linda, had joined the family.

When an assistant superintendent's job opened up in Moorcroft, Wyo., the family moved. Rowena went to work as a school nurse and took courses at the University of Wyoming, while the five Nebelsick children settled into school and played basketball. As spectators and participants, basketball was and still is a family affair.

A truehearted son

It didn't take long for Terry to decide which college to attend. He'd grown up hearing about Wesleyan and his parents had kept in contact with old friends like Gordon Fosness '57.

"We were out in Wyoming when the folks asked me what I wanted to do," said Terry who graduated from high school in Moorcroft. "I told them I wanted to go back and visit Dakota Wesleyan. I only looked at one school." A family tradition was launched.

The Nebelsicks spent four years in Wyoming before returning to South Dakota. Earl took the principal's job at Howard High School and Rowena continued working as a nurse at the Good Samaritan Healthcare Center in Howard. She is now retired.

Terry majored in communication and theater at DWU and acted in or directed 14 productions. He also represented the university in a state oral interpretation championship during his four years on campus. Darryl Patten '60, the son of the minister who married his parents, served as his inspiration, he said. Patten was DWU's theater director until his death in 1997.

A year before his 1978 graduation from Wesleyan, Terry married Diana, a girl he'd met and dated through high school. The newlyweds took up housekeeping off campus and soon opportunity came knocking. A Wesleyan graduate, Tom Morris '54, was the superintendent of the Artesian School District and needed a coach.

"He knocked on the door, said I'm Tom Morris and I'd like you to be my basketball coach," Terry said recalling the day. "I told him I don't know who you are, and he said, it doesn't matter. Gordie Fosness said you're the guy.

"That's a piece of the Wesleyan legacy that is as true today as it was then. Wesleyan grads flat take care of each other. But I also believe with that comes some high expectations on how you're going to act, how you're going to behave and how you're going to support your local church."

Terry taught school, coached basketball and refereed games while at Artesian. But he wanted to try something new and took a job at a radio station in Winner, where he worked for two years before returning to teaching at Gregory.

"I enjoyed teaching and I also loved the life that I grew up in," he said. "It was a great way to grow up and I wanted the same thing for my family."

He earned a master's degree in secondary education in 1986 and an education specialist degree in school district administration from the University of South Dakota in 1993, and was hired as the principal of Salem High School, which became McCook Central High School under his leadership.

From Salem the family, which now included Jennifer, Kayla and Jeremy, moved to the Black Hills, where he served as principal at Lead-Deadwood High School. In 1994, the same year as Earl's retirement, Terry took a job with the Huron School District, where today he is a visible administrator to the teens at Huron High School.

"As a freshman at Wesleyan, I didn't have a clue of what was meant by sacrifice and service. It was just words. And now, that's a huge part of how I approach public education," he said.

A third generation

Jennifer was offered a full-tuition Randall Scholarship to attend DWU her senior year of high school and begins her sophomore year this month. She is the oldest of Earl and Rowena's 16 grandchildren and the first to attend DWU.

"I chose Wesleyan because it's small, and I wouldn't just be a number going to class," she said. "I wanted to be able to talk to the professors, which I've found to be easy. And, I like how the professors know who I am when they see me on campus." She also said the scholarship helped to make the decision much easier.

She also wanted to be involved and Wesleyan gives her that opportunity. Last year, she was elected president of the freshman class and re-elected sophomore class president. She recently returned from Los Angeles where she and five other Wesleyan students participated in an outreach project with the National Education Association Student Program.

The Wesleyan students with others in the nation painted, planted flowers and cleaned up a high school in Watts that hadn't been touched since the riots. At the NEA convention Jennifer was elected to the resolutions committee and will represent the organization later this year in Dallas and Washington, D.C.

"She's been elected the class president twice and now she's on a national committee. Wesleyan allows you to do those things and absolutely supports kids doing them rather than just going to class," Terry said. Jennifer said Wesleyan sent more students than any other university represented at the convention.

Jennifer plans to teach biology and coach, or maybe go into school administration after graduate school, but has not ruled out medical school. She is a biology and secondary education major.

And like her father and grandfather, refereeing basketball games is another tradition she has followed. Last year, she was the youngest college referee in the nation, officiating 10 college varsity games and 15 to 20 boys' basketball games.

"She started refereeing when she was a junior in high school and the fact that she wound up 50 miles away has allowed us to keep reffing," said Terry. "It's been fun." Earl is not a certified referee, but in Wyoming where certification is not required for junior varsity games he refereed all three of his sons throughout their junior varsity careers.

A family tradition

At the Nebelsick family reunions Dakota Wesleyan is bound to come up in the conversation from time to time.

Larry graduated in 1979 and for the past 22 years has taught school and coached in Canistota. He said the size of the campus and the fact his father was an alumnus, were factors in his decision to attend. He and his wife, Dawn, have three children, Candice, Keri and Kelsie.

Gary, the next in line, played basketball for Coach Fosness and earned a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan in 1981. He also chose education and began his career teaching at Tripp. In 1986, he moved to Elk Point, where he taught and is currently the head boys' basketball coach. He also runs a business, Gary's Tree Service.

Gary's wife, Barb Grassel '83 transferred to Wesleyan after they were married. She is a kindergarten teacher with the Elk Point-Jefferson School District. They have four children, Lindsey, Leslie, Michael and Mary Elizabeth.

Lori, the oldest daughter attended Wesleyan her freshman year (1978-79), but later transferred to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1982. She completed a master's degree in exercise physiology in 1987 and a doctoral degree in applied statistics, assessment and research in 1993 at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

"My experiences at Wesleyan were positive and provided me with some of the building blocks I needed to attain my goals," she said, adding that part of her decision to leave Wesleyan was based on a need for more independence and self-reliance. "I remember missing my brothers greatly the next year as I discovered it was more of a blessing than an impediment to have them close at hand."

Lori met her husband, David Gullett, at Morningside and was married in 1982. They have three children, Danielle, Jacob and Lukas. Today, she is the executive director of planning, assessment, evaluation and research for the Richardson Independent School District in Richardson, Texas.

Linda played basketball for Coach Connie Nelson and earned her degree from Wesleyan in 1986. "There are a lot more people at a smaller college to help you mature and find your way. They give you direction when you don't have your parents to turn to for support," she said.

During her senior year at Wesleyan, she met her future husband, Doug Pietz, a student who attended just one year. Today, they live in Huron where Linda teaches fifth grade at Washington Elementary School. They also have three children, Katelyn, Robert and Tanner.

But the family connection doesn't stop there. The brother who introduced Rowena and Earl, Ted Roman, graduated from Wesleyan in 1956 and went on to be the first open heart surgeon in Sioux City. Dr. Roman also served on the DWU Board of Trustees. Robert Roman '64, another brother, is a classroom teacher in Cherry Hills, N.J.

Nephews and nieces of Earl who are graduates include Bill Nebelsick '81, LaVonne Nebelsick Oswald '70, and Marilee Nebelsick who graduated from the Methodist School of Nursing in 1972.

"I think Wesleyan spans the generations," Terry said. "Dr. Matthew D. Smith was still alive when I went there, which is incredible, because he was from my parents' generation. There are still professors who are there now, who were real young when I started. Bob Tatina was a teacher during my time there and now he teaches my daughter, and so now he has spanned a generation."

The Nebelsicks' continued support of Wesleyan is likely to go on for years to come. Earl and Rowena are TeamMaker members and have attended nearly every home basketball game for the past 15 years. Earl was on the DWU Alumni Board, serving as president for several years, and Terry has served on numerous United Methodist Church boards and committees.

Earl was named an Outstanding Educator by DWU's Alumni Board in 1991 and Terry received the same award in 1995.

"You get out of something what you put into it regardless of what it is," says Earl.

No one knows for certain if there will be more Nebelsick descendants to join ranks of such an elite group as the Wesleyan alumni, but with a heritage such as theirs, the chances are extremely good.

"I really believe that Dakota Wesleyan creates a foundation that there is a greater purpose in life than just growing up and getting a job. It becomes a way of life," Terry said.