Alumni, staff receive district’s highest honor

Their contributions ran the gamut, from teaching to business and coaching to athletics and law enforcement.

But the five that were inducted into the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School Hall of Fame on Saturday had at least one thing in common: a commitment to their community.

Mike Ansay, Class of 1972

Ansay has led Ansay & Associates Insurance Co. since 1977, and today the company has 300 employees. He has held leadership roles in banks, insurance, economic development and the Luxembourg American Cultural Society.

Ansay’s ties to Luxembourg has earned him the title of Honorary Consul of Luxembourg, and the Ansay family has donated 96 acres of land to Ozaukee County and money for infrastructure to create a nature preserve park.

Ansay said the honor is “quite humbling” and Cedar Grove-Belgium’s teachers and the school made a difference in his life.

“One of the most important things is you’re always an individual. People will recognize you for who you are,” he said.

Paul Dekker, Class of 1971

Dekker, who starred in sports while in high school, coached basketball for 27 years and football for 11. He finished with a 184-136 record with the boys’ hoops team, but his impact goes beyond the field and court. Former star player Nate Pomeday  loved the heart-to-heart conversations. TJ Teunissen said “You could tell he truly cared about every single one of his players.”

Kevin Bruggink said the open gyms gave him a safe space as a child going through rough times, and “I realized it wasn’t the space. It was the man who was opening the gym who would be in your corner.”

Dekker was an innovator, starting youth basketball and football programs, basketball camps and he bought a VCR and camcorder to record game film.

He and his wife Connie regularly opened their home to their players for film sessions and food.

“They never left without a good meal, and we enjoyed having them,” Dekker said.

He said he was “humbled” when he saw he would be included with the others who had plaques in the hallway.

Christy Knowles, Class of 1994

Knowles joined the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office in 1999 and in 2022 was elected sheriff.

Former Sheriff Jim Johnson said he got to see Knowles’ character, accomplishments and commitment up close in working with her for 23 years.

“She routinely accepted additional responsibilities and looked for ways to make a difference,” he said.

Knowles served in the jail, on patrol and as a detective, captain, lieutenant and undersheriff.

One of her focuses has been to improve mental health and officer wellness.

Knowles said her best friends today are still those from kindergarten.

“We get together every year where we left off. I’m not going to share the stories because I’m good at what I do, and I’ve been through things,” she said.

Knowles said she’d rather not be recognized as Ozaukee’s first female sheriff and instead the value of her work, “But if my journey inspires even one young girl she can accomplish anything she’s willing to work for, then that means more than any title.”

Kurt Mattek, Class of 1996

Mattek wrestled to a state title with screws and plates in his body after breaking his leg during football season.

Coach Gerry Peterson remembers motivating Mattek to compete. Mattek showed up at school overweight one morning and decided to go home instead of get on the team bus for the Oshkosh On the Water tournament. Peterson had the bus stop at Mattek’s house and convinced him to wrestle. He won the tournament.

“I tested him pretty hard; he tested me really hard,” Peterson said.

Mattek said he remembers being pulled into Peterson’s office after winning the Whitewater tournament as a junior to re-evaluate his season’s goals.

“What that did for me is just gave me confidence. He saw something in me that maybe I didn’t at the time. I used that in my life after wrestling,” Mattek said.

Mattek employed those lessons when he started and coached the Sheboygan Chargers rugby team.

Morreen O’Reilly Mersberger, teacher

Mersberger taught middle school science in Cedar Grove from 1988 to 2012, her final stop of a teaching career that spanned 35 years and five continents.

Her husband Don remembers his wife coming home late on many nights.

“It turned out that many of her kids called her mom,” he said. “She knew how to talk to kids. Some of the guys who really had a chip on their shoulder, she could knock it off and mentor to them.”

The couple didn’t have children, but Don pointed out that Morreen’s initials after marrying became M.O.M.

“God had a reason for us to get married. You had hundreds and hundreds of kids that you ministered too and filled their hearts with love,” he said.

Morreen said, “The true reward has always been watching my students discover their own potential,” and was grateful that she made a little bit of a difference.

She took a break from science to teach teens respect for veterans and the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Her favorite mantras were “never give up” and “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it. Success comes in cans, not can’ts.”

What these five achieved is now honored permanently with plaques on the wall of the high school.