West Union High School honors three long-serving community leaders

Hall of Fame Night at West Union High School recognized three community pillars when Joe Kramer, Phil Rhonemus and Tony Staggs were formally inducted and their plaques added to the school’s Hall of Fame wall during the January 6 ceremonies held between the JV and varsity boys games with Fairfield.

The evening foregrounded the longevity and breadth of local volunteerism. Joe Kramer brought a 41-year teaching career at WUHS and a coaching resume that includes 87 high school teams, four junior high squads and more than 1,300 interscholastic events. A Dayton native who played at Miami University on teams that won the Mid-American Conference in 1974 and reached the NCAA tournament in 1974 and 1977, Kramer arrived at West Union in 1984 after stops at several area schools and a stint as an assistant at the University of Dayton. His teams captured SHAC baseball titles in 1987, 1989 and 2018 and a sectional baseball championship in 1994; his 1988 girls basketball squad remains West Union’s only girls team to win a sectional championship. Kramer also founded the local youth soccer program, started the WUHS Hall of Fame in the late 1990s and has volunteered extensively in the concession stand. He now helps the Adams County Historical Society and Heritage Center and spends time with his sons Ryan, Bryce and Janson and grandchild Sky.

Phil Rhonemus’s induction celebrated a lifetime tied to West Union athletics and special education. A 1970 graduate, Rhonemus scored 371 varsity basketball points and earned All-County recognition before earning degrees at Ohio State and a master’s from the University of Dayton. He taught for the Adams County Board of Developmental Disabilities from 1980 to 1996 and later at West Union Elementary, while coaching widely: five years of varsity softball, two years of varsity girls basketball, 12 years of junior high girls basketball and a decade of junior high volleyball. Rhonemus also served 12 years as Athletic Director and has officiated volleyball for 46 years, basketball for 50 and softball for 20, in addition to ongoing civic roles with the library board and Liberty Cornet Band.

Tony Staggs was honored for five decades of steady local stewardship. A 1972 graduate and Eastern Kentucky University alumnus, Staggs coached youth baseball for 12 years, youth basketball for four and led the West Union Recreation Association as president for 20 years. He currently serves as president of the Adams County Regional Water Board and chaired the WUHS Athletic Boosters for 15 years beginning in 1996, spearheading projects such as a digital sign and organizing the annual Dragon Pride Dinner. Tony’s motto was that the WUHS Athletic Boosters provide the “bells and whistles” for the athletes.

For Adams County residents, the inductions underscore how decades of unpaid labor and institutional leadership sustain youth programs, school traditions and local events that draw families and support small-town social infrastructure. The Hall of Fame plaques now on display give the community a focal point to recognize those contributions at future games and gatherings, and they remind residents that continued volunteer engagement will be central to maintaining youth sports and extracurricular opportunities in the years ahead.