Evelyn T. Wehrle was born July 26, 1917, in Gary, Indiana, the daughter of Arthur Lee and Anna Rose Webber Tannehill. She graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor of arts degree and from the University of Pittsburgh with a master’s degree in education. An educator, she taught English in China and Wales, at Allegheny High School in Pittsburgh and, from 1965 to 1982, at Beloit Memorial High School, where she also chaired the English Department.

In 1980, Evelyn was named District Teacher of the Year by the Wisconsin State Department of Public Instruction and in 1987 received the Wisconsin Council of English Teachers Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Teaching of English. She served as president of the Beloit Education Association and, following retirement, as a member of the Beloit Area Retired Educators Association. Evelyn wrote the popular “The Way It Was” column for the Beloit Daily News for many years, preserving stories and history of our community, and also wrote newspaper feature articles and symphony reviews.

After retiring as a teacher, she accepted the responsibility of serving as director of the Beloit Historical Society from 1983 to 1988, during the design and construction of the Lincoln Center and the renovation of the Hanchett-Bartlett Homestead. Her community activities were numerous. In addition to being instrumental in launching Beloit’s  Heritage Days and the Historical Society’s Art Festival, she was a member of the Beloit Symphony Guild, Art League, League of Women Voters, Fortnightly, Women’s Division of the Greater Beloit Association of Commerce and Friends of Beloit College Museums and on the board of the Festival Theater and the Teachers Credit Union.

In 1988, Evelyn was elected to the Wisconsin Humanities Committee, serving six years and played a major role in bringing its educational programs and performances to Beloit. That same year found her co-chairing a committee which commissioned and paid for the murals of Beloit that are located in the lobby of the Forum in City Hall. Evelyn Tannehill Wehrle died May 16, 1995, with her survivors then including her husband Andre, son James Andre and grandson Andre Robert. As a teacher, writer, historian, administrator and tireless worker, she left a legacy of achievement and accomplishments that will be long remembered as benefiting both the students she taught and the community she served.