By By LYDIA GRIMES Feature Reporter
Bill Thallemer is not the sort of person who is normally found in a nine-to-five job that places him behind the desk in an office. One would expect him to be hang gliding, skiing, or maybe even sky-diving. He has more energy than two or three other people and things are never dull when he is around.
However, although he holds a great love and joy of being involved with exciting projects, his main occupation as Dean of Students at Jefferson Davis Community College right here in Brewton.
He grew up in a large Catholic family of seven children in South Bend, Ind. and lived in a neighborhood of other Catholics with large families.
He did very well in academics and graduated early. By the next spring he was attending Holy Cross Community College which was also in South Bend. From there he attended Notre Dame from which he graduated in 1986.
He studied business administration management with the intention of becoming a CEO or work in some sort of healthcare.
He took a year off from school and traveled with a group that called themselves "The All American Acrobats or Daredevils."
He then went to Slippery Rock University to get into a health administration program and spent the next two years there.
That settled the question of whether he would stay in health administration. He knew that he needed another occupation.
He entered college at Ole Miss University at Oxford, Miss. and received his Ph.D. in college leadership. His first job was at Northwest Mississippi Community College as director of campus life to work with students and their needs.
He managed a Gold's Gym while he was in college and became a fitness trainer, but one of the most important things that happened at the gym was that he met his future wife, Stacey, there. She, too, was a student in Oxford. They were married one and a half years later and the day after the wedding he moved to Ocean Springs, Miss. to work at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College as director of student activities. His wife was also working on the same college work force in business.
In the year 2000, they moved once again, this time to Brewton where he became Dean of Students. The job is a busy one, keeping him working with admissions, student housing, testings, orientations, federal grants, advising, counseling and working the Upward Bound Program.
Both of the Thallemers are very involved in St. Maurice Catholic Church and in many other community events. He is in the Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club and the YMCA. He is on the Mental Health Board, the Escambia County American Heart Association, is a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and a volunteer coach.
If that were not enough, he is also a Third Class Yeoman with the U.S. National Coast Guard and has been since 1998.
He was recalled for active duty last year when the country went to war with the terrorists and is now part of the Homeland Defense and will serve until at least 2006.
One of the most interesting things about Thallemer is his love for running. He was in track in school and at the age of 15 he was a cross country runner.
For those who are not familiar with just how long a marathon is, they may be surprised to find that it is 26.2 miles. Now that is not just a walk in the park. That is some serious running. This year he will run in a 50 mile run in Virginia, 26.2 miles in Nashville, 26.2 miles in San Diego, Calif. and will be in New York in November.
Thallemer runs every day and most days he runs as many as three times for a total of 40 to 60 miles a day.