The Hall of Honor was organized in 2012 as a way of celebrating the rich heritage and tradition at Lutheran High School. It will serve as a means of recognizing, preserving, and honoring the school leaders, athletes, teachers, and individuals who made significant contributions to the LHS programs. Many individuals have been influential in the Cougars tradition of excellence and have had exemplary accomplishments. The Hall of Honor honors the contributions and accomplishments of these individuals as examples for others to emulate.
Lutheran High operates according to a strong set of embedded values. The core values of Lutheran High School are: Spiritual and Academic Growth, Building Character and Purpose, Servant Leadership, and Authentic Relationships. Alongside God’s Holy Word, our values help guide how we live out our mission at LHS. We see these values in our halls, our on fields of competition, the stage, the classroom… everywhere. We also see these values, and the love and service of our Savior, in those who are nominated for our Hall of Honor.
Individuals may be nominated representing four categories: Alumni, Athlete, Coach/Sponsor/Staff, and Legacy.
Alumni Selections for the 2026 Hall of Honor
Matt Birk
What makes Matt’s story richer still is that Lutheran High is not just his school. It is his family’s school. His wife Ashley is also an LHS alumna and a decorated Cougar athlete in her own right, and together they are raising three daughters, Audrey, Adley, and Molly, who carry on a legacy rooted in faith and service. That legacy runs deep on the Birk side as well. Matt’s father, Alan, was himself inducted into the Hall of Honor and gave decades of selfless service to this institution, from running the scoreclock at football games to chaperoning mission trips to Mexico, to logging countless hours of quiet, behind-the-scenes work that kept Cougar Athletics running. Alan passed away in 2020, and the gap he left in this community was felt by everyone who knew him. It is not hard to see in Matt the same spirit that made his father, along with his brother Marcus and his sister Amanda and with his mom Marcia to be so beloved by all of LHS, the willingness to give without being asked, to serve without recognition, and to show up year after year simply because this place matters.
Professionally, Matt has channeled that same work ethic and community loyalty into Matador Properties, a St. Louis area real estate investment company he co-founded alongside Nathan Doerr, who is himself a fellow LHS alumnus. Born and raised in St. Charles County, the two built Matador Properties around a straightforward mission: giving homeowners more options and treating people fairly through every step of the process. That instinct to serve people well, to show up with integrity and do right by your neighbor, is not something Matt learned in a boardroom. It is something LHS helped form in him.
And show up he has! If you have attended the Lutheran High golf tournament in recent years (the last decade!), there is a good chance Matt had something to do with getting you there. Over the years he has been one of the most active and enthusiastic forces behind our annual tournament, one of LHS’s signature alumni and fundraising events. Through his personal outreach, his genuine relationships with fellow graduates, and his deep affection for the school that shaped him, the tournament has grown year after year in both participation and financial impact. Matt does not just put his name on something and step back. He makes calls, sends messages, and walks the course right alongside everyone else.
Many of the alumni who line up at the first tee each year do so in no small part because Matt asked them personally. He has a rare gift for reconnecting former classmates with Lutheran High and helping them remember what this place meant to them. That kind of relationship-driven outreach cannot be manufactured or delegated, and it has been invaluable in sustaining one of LHS’s most important traditions. He carries Lutheran High with him wherever he goes, and his continued investment of time, energy, and influence long after graduation reflects a loyalty that is genuine and lasting.
Proverbs remind us that a good name is more desirable than great riches, and that those who are generous will themselves be refreshed. Matt Birk embodies that truth. He has been blessed with a platform, and he uses it to bless others. His father understood that. His wife lives it. And Matt carries it forward, building up this community, strengthening our mission, and modeling for every current student what it looks like to Grow and Serve in Christ long after the diploma is in hand. Matt, welcome to the Hall of Honor.
Rev. Jonathan Liebich
There is a moment, somewhere in the four years that students spend at Lutheran High, when the seeds of Christian calling begin to take root. For Jonathan Liebich, those seeds grew into a life of pastoral ministry that has now stretched nearly two decades and touched hundreds of families across multiple states. Jonathan graduated from Lutheran High School, continued his formation at Concordia University Nebraska, and completed his theological studies at Concordia Seminary, where he earned his Master of Divinity. He was ordained in 2006 at Messiah Lutheran Church in St. Peters.
His first call took him to Christ Lutheran Church in Hebron, Connecticut, where he served as sole pastor for seven years. Since 2013, he has served as pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Glendora, Michigan, shepherding his congregation through baptisms, confirmations, marriages, funerals, and all of the ordinary and extraordinary moments of life in between. He has led chapel services, ministered in nursing homes, and served as a pastoral counselor for the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League at the zone and district levels. He has also contributed to community outreach through organizations like BHLOOM, which serves under-resourced families in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
None of that ministry happens in isolation. Alongside Jonathan for nearly 24 years has been his wife Becky, who brings her own quiet vocation to their life together as a preschool teacher at Trinity Lutheran School in St. Joseph. She has been a steady partner through every move, every call, every season of ministry that comes with a pastor’s life. Their two sons, Benjamin and Paul, are growing into fine young men of their own. Benjamin just finished his first year at Concordia University Wisconsin, where he is in the pre-seminary program studying theological languages, a path that feels entirely fitting for a pastor’s son who grew up watching his father preach and serve. Paul is a sophomore at Michigan Lutheran High School in St. Joseph, where he plays the trombone in the band and plays baseball and basketball.
What makes Rev. Liebich’s story so fitting for this recognition is not simply the length of his service, but what it represents. Lutheran High School’s mission is to equip students to Grow and Serve in Christ. Jonathan grew here. And for nearly twenty years, he has been serving. Every sermon preached, every family walked through grief, every child brought to the font, every young person confirmed in the faith reflects the investment Lutheran High made in one student a long time ago.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy that he had fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. Rev. Liebich is still running that race, faithfully and without fanfare, in a rural Michigan congregation that God has entrusted to his care. That is precisely the kind of servant leadership this Hall was built to honor. Jonathan, welcome to the Hall of Honor.
Mike & Carrie Sides
There are supporters of Lutheran High School. And then there are people whose lives are so intertwined with this institution that separating the two is nearly impossible. Mike and Carrie Sides fall firmly into that second category. Both are graduates of Lutheran High, Mike in 1987 and Carrie in 1989. They are the first alumni couple to see a child graduate from LHS. And then another. And then another. Five of their children have graduated from Lutheran High, with a sixth currently enrolled. If that is not a vote of confidence in this school’s mission, I am not sure what is.
Their professional story is impressive on its own terms. Mike built a distinguished twenty-four-year career as a General Partner with Edward Jones while earning an Executive MBA from Washington University. Carrie earned a degree in Business Administration from Mizzou. After Mike’s retirement from Edward Jones, the two launched the Sides Property Network through Keller Williams, and in their very first year, their company earned Rookie of the Year recognition across St. Charles County. They know how to build things.
But their investment in Lutheran High goes well beyond showing up at the auction, though they have done both generously. Mike and Carrie have mentored students in the Roboteers robotics program and the STEM2U initiative. They have served as high-level sponsors and key organizers of the school’s annual auction for multiple years. Through their real estate business, they have committed to donating twenty-five percent of commissions from transactions involving LHS families, alumni, and staff, a decision that has returned thousands of dollars directly to this school.
Their service extends into the church and the broader community as well, from Carrie’s accreditation leadership and teaching Sunday school at Messiah Lutheran, to Mike’s role in helping establish that school from the initial Genesis Committee to the original school board. Family-wide involvement in organizations like Brace 4 Impact and multiple relief effort trips after the Joplin tornado demonstrate their love for those even outside our community.
Proverbs 22 tells us that those who sow generosity will reap blessing. The Sides family has sown generously into Lutheran High School, into Lutheran education, and into the community around them for decades. Their legacy here is not a transaction. It is a relationship, rooted in gratitude for what this school gave them and a desire to give that same gift to the next generation. Mike and Carrie, welcome to the Hall of Honor.
Athlete Selections for the 2026 Hall of Honor
Ellie Watkins
The list of accolades Ellie Watkins accumulated during her time at Lutheran High is, to put it plainly, remarkable. First Team All-State in 2014. Second Team All-State in 2013. Honorable Mention All-State in 2012. AAA All-Conference Player of the Year in both 2013 and 2014. First Team All-Conference, All-District, and All-Region honors across her varsity career. Team captain and MVP in her senior year. Tournament MVP at the LHS Cougar Varsity Invitational. Named to PrepVolleyball.com’s nationally recognized Senior 150 list. AAU Academic All-American. Selected to the Missouri State Volleyball Team through Down Under Sports. Outstanding High School Volleyball Athlete at USAV Junior Nationals.
And she did all of it with a 4.0 GPA and membership in the National Honor Society.
Ellie’s achievements on the court earned her a full Division I scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the most competitive volleyball leagues in the country. She graduated a semester early from Lutheran High to begin her collegiate career, a detail that tells you something about how she is wired. Ellie does not wait for opportunities to come to her. She prepares, she works, and she goes. Her journey, however, did not stop there. Ellie made the decision to transfer to Arkansas State University between her sophomore and junior seasons, a decision she describes as the best she could have made. At Arkansas State, she earned Second Team All-Conference honors in both her junior and senior years and helped lead her team deep into conference tournament play. Just as importantly, she was part of a team rooted in faith, where relationships were strengthened not only through competition, but through a shared commitment to growing in Christ.
What makes Ellie’s story even more compelling is the context in which she accomplished all of this. She has lived with Type 1 Diabetes since childhood, a condition that requires constant vigilance, discipline, and resilience. She never let it become an excuse. Instead, she allowed it to become a testimony. Every student-athlete who has faced a physical limitation, a health challenge, or a moment of doubt has in Ellie Watkins a picture of what perseverance actually looks like in practice.
That perseverance and work ethic have continued beyond the court. After graduating, Ellie spent nearly four years with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, working her way through the Management Trainee program and eventually managing multiple locations, including the Ladue branch. It was there that she discovered her passion for the hustle, discipline, and relational nature of sales and customer service. Today, she works as a Recruiting Consultant in the staffing industry, where she brings together her love for people, her ability to connect and match individuals with opportunities, and her commitment to hard work and excellence.
At the heart of Ellie’s story is also her family. She is part of a close-knit group of four: her father, Brian, a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley whose talents range from music to golf to a deep sense of humor; her mother, Shannon, a teacher at Messiah Lutheran and a steady source of care and encouragement; and her brother Drew, a Lutheran High graduate and basketball player, with whom she shares a uniquely close bond. That foundation of faith, support, and love has been central to who Ellie is and who she continues to become.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians that he could do all things through Christ who strengthens him. Ellie has lived that verse on the court, in the classroom, in her professional life, and through her continued involvement at Messiah Lutheran Church. Lutheran High’s mission calls us to cultivate Spiritual and Academic Growth and to Build Character and Purpose. Ellie Watkins did not just meet that standard. She set it Welcome to the Hall of Honor, Ellie!
Coach/Sponsor/Staff Selections for the 2026 Hall of Honor
Michael Flandermeyer
When Michael Flandermeyer joined the faculty at Lutheran High School in 1993, he was already nearly two decades into a career in Lutheran education. By the time he retired in 2022, that career had stretched to forty-seven years and left a mark on this school that will not fade anytime soon. If you attended Lutheran High during that stretch and were anywhere near the music program, the Scholar Bowl team, or the St. Charles City Council chambers, your life was likely shaped in some way by this man.
Mr. Flandermeyer arrived at Lutheran High and immediately set about expanding what music could mean for students here. As Chairman of the Music Department, he organized ensembles that traveled to association churches and schools, built annual band and choir tours that took students beyond their local community, and created large-scale events including grade school solo and ensemble festivals and mass band and choir gatherings. These events were not just performances. They were bridges between Lutheran High and the elementary schools and congregations that form this community, bringing young students to campus and giving them their first glimpse of life as a future Cougar. These future Cougars included his daughters, Dawn and Heidi.
Then in 2010, he started the Scholar Bowl team at the urging of several freshmen. Over the next decade as coach, he guided the team to a varsity record of 259 wins and 205 losses, seven conference championships, and a district title. He also served on the MSHSAA Scholar Bowl Advisory Committee, helping shape academic competition across the entire state of Missouri. The man built two programs.
Outside the school, Mr. Flandermeyer served as a St. Charles City Council member from 2019 to 2025, continues to serve his church through music and baptism instruction ministries at Immanuel Lutheran, and volunteers with the St. Charles Municipal Band and Meals on Wheels.
Martin Luther taught us that ordinary work is a divine calling, and that through our daily vocations we serve God by serving our neighbors. Few people in the history of this school have taken that theology and lived it out with such consistency, creativity, and longevity as Michael Flandermeyer. He built things here that will outlast him. And that is exactly the kind of legacy Lutheran High was designed to produce. Mike, welcome to the Hall of Honor.
Edmund Staude
There is a small group of people who did not just teach at Lutheran High School. They helped build it. Edmund Staude is one of them. Before he ever stood at the front of a classroom here, Ed was already serving the school as a board member during the formative years when Lutheran High was still finding its footing. His leadership during that critical early period helped lay the groundwork for everything that has followed.
Ed joined the faculty in 1990 and spent the next several decades shaping the humanities program with a combination of academic rigor, scholarly depth, and genuine Christian conviction that his students remember to this day. As department leader, he helped develop curriculum that demanded serious intellectual engagement while keeping faith, citizenship, and ethical responsibility at the center. He was the kind of teacher who raised the bar and then helped students clear it.
It is worth noting that Ed has always been something of a team deal. Claudia joined the faculty in 1996, though she had already been resurrecting the theater program here since 1990. Together they represent the kind of partnership that quietly shapes a school’s culture in ways that are difficult to measure and impossible to replace.
His peers recognized what his students already knew. In 2016, Concordia University Wisconsin named Ed Staude a Master Educator, one of the highest honors the institution can confer on a teacher. That recognition reflected not just skill in the classroom but a career built on mentorship, discipline, and the belief that education is a sacred calling.
Ed also coached, and brought the same commitment to character and personal growth to athletics that he brought to the classroom. Whether in front of a whiteboard or on the sideline, he was teaching the same lesson: who you are matters as much as what you know.
The book of Proverbs tells us that those who instruct the wise add to their wisdom, and that those who teach the righteous increase their knowledge. Ed Staude spent forty-five years doing exactly that. He invested in this institution before it had earned a reputation, and he continued to invest in it long after it had. His legacy is embedded in the culture of this school, in the habits of mind and the character of the students who sat in his classes, and in the values that Lutheran High continues to build on today. Ed, welcome to the Hall of Honor.
Past Inductees:
2025: Brandi Hallemeier
Glenn Mahnken
2024: Jim Clark
Nate Droste
Nathan Haak
Angie Steinbacher
Jan Tonjes
Brady Westphal
2023: Brian Bredensteiner
Austin Bredow
Dr. Allison Dolak
Kevin Hearn
Sarah Salzberg
Dave Zilz
2022: Mike & Debbie Franklin
Armand Haak
Rachel (Travis) Harvil
Sheryl Kluesner
Ted Kuegele
Matt Raithel
2021: Dave Viviano
Ernestine Wilson
2020: Alan Birk
Rev. Doug Gaunt
Aaron Hill
Kristin (Frasca) Simone
2019: Dr. Jennifer Fruend
Larry Marty
John Prange
David Schlesselmann
2018: Bob Carter
Kathy Chapin
Jim Droste
2017: Ryan Bredow
Tim Brackman
Gretchen Jameson
Erin Luttschwager
Jeff & Sandy Von Deylen
2016: Stan Beumer
Randy Ferber
Amber Medrano
Dr. Matt Nissing
2014: Jim & Sue Bastian
Dr. Mark Hingst
Joe & Jen Koenig
Randy Boettler
2013: Al Mahnken
Bob Storm
2012: Gordon Bredow
Harry & Nancy Cromer
Lew Fruend
Ron Holtmeier
Bob & Marti Price
Dr. Bernie Tonjes
Brad Walters
Dave Wulff
