Ty Wesley

Ty Wesley, who inspired high school students and theatergoers in Sheboygan during a 30-year career as a South High School teacher, drama director, forensics coach, mentor, and regional actor, died in his Lake Shore Drive home on July 22, 2022. He was 73.

Wesley was an inspiration to his students, a leading figure in the local drama scene and a larger-than-life presence at South and in the state forensics community.

One of his former students, Wendy Riemann, PhD, summarized Wesley’s impact in a recent Facebook post: “He was just a remarkable human being with an incredible sense of humor and the best laugh known to man. Almost all my good high school memories have Ty in them — from the North/South musicals to Shakespeare class to traveling all over the state and country for forensic tournaments. Oh, the stories!!! He made my life better in countless ways with his heart of gold.”

In 1978 Wesley took an appointment at South High to replace the drama teacher who was on a one-year sabbatical. When the drama teacher did not return, Wesley continued at South, launching a 28-year career directing plays and musicals, teaching English and drama, and teaching and coaching forensics. His team (co-coached by Steve Thompson) won the state forensics championship in 1991. He taught drama for two years at Etude charter school after his retirement from South in 2006.

Wesley directed more than 70 stage productions, once directing five plays in just one school year, to offer roles to more students. He co-directed the first joint productions by North and South High Schools with North High’s Jacqueline Saint Hill in 1981 (West Side Story) and later staged The Mikado, Les Misérables, and The Sound of Music, among many others.

He also appeared in dozens of plays and musicals in college, in summer stock and with the Community Players/Sheboygan Theatre Company. He turned in notable performances as Hoke Coleburn in Driving Miss Daisy and as the voice of Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors.

When he arrived at South High, Wesley was the only black teacher. He often recalled “I was the only black person in the city. And they didn’t know what to do with me.” Wesley initially worked as a minority counselor at Lakeland College. During his first year in Sheboygan, Wesley experienced racism during his apartment search. “One lady was screaming, and my instinct was I wanted to help her, but then I realized she was screaming at me, because I am black,” he told the Sheboygan Press in 1992. He made appointments to look at apartments, only to be told that the apartment was rented when he arrived. He started to tell landlords on the phone that he was black to save time. He was followed by store detectives at the H.C. Prange department store, and the J.C. Penney store would not accept his credit card. But Wesley said he was welcomed at South High and in Sheboygan in the years to come.

Tyrone Rodney Shannon Wesley was born August 16, 1948, in Detroit, Michigan to Farrell and Mary (Shannon) Wesley.

As a child, he was interested in musicals his parents took him see, he told the Press in 1982. “I remember bugging them to take me to The Music Man and then waiting and waiting to hear the song ‘Do, Re Mi’. My folks said, ‘dopey, that’s a different musical.’”  He appeared regularly in 1965-66 as a dancer on “Swingin’ Time”, a musical variety TV show broadcast from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from David Mackenzie High School in Detroit in 1966, lettering in track, swimming and tennis. He was also an Eagle Scout.

He studied math at Michigan State University but switched to theater, a major to which his parents objected. He also studied ballet and jazz at MSU. He got roles in summer stock, and his parents dropped their objections when they saw him in a college play. From 1972-74 he was director of the black arts club at Michigan State and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater in 1974.

He took a job recruiting celebrities to entertain at the Special Olympics in 1975, which required him to be a student, so he enrolled at Central Michigan University, earning a teacher certificate in 1976 and a Master of Arts degree in Interpersonal Public Communication in 1980.

From 1976 to 1978, he was a substitute teacher in drama and English in middle and high schools in Lansing and Midland, Michigan. At Everett High School in Lansing one of Wesley’s students was future Michigan State and Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Magic Johnson.

After arriving in Sheboygan, Wesley married special education teacher Jean Rusch in 1982 and their Lake Shore Drive household was known as a place for students to hang out and friends to have parties.

Wesley left a legacy of personal commitment to his students that is still remembered fondly. “Ty had that inate ability to see inside someone’s heart and know the right thing to say to motivate his students, lift their spirits, and to believe in themselves and the many gifts they had to offer the world”, said Debra L. Weiher-Traas, a forensics coach from Appleton who knew Wesley well. “The life lessons he taught and the wisdom he imparted to everyone who was blessed to know him is a rich legacy that will transcend throughout time.”

Wesley believed that students who were considered “bad” were kids with a lot of imagination, energy and creativity that needed to be steered in right direction, he told the Press in 1982. “Every student is like a Christmas gift,” he said, “You don’t know what you’re getting until you open them up.”

He was voted Best Teacher by Sheboygan County residents and was named Forensic Coach of the Year in 1992 by the Wisconsin Forensic Coaches Association.

His latest project was a film called “Through Eyes of Grace” which is in post-production status and will be released in 2023.

Wesley is survived by his close friend and companion, Sherri Burby, his stepdaughters Shelly Rusch and Susan Magestro, and four grandchildren. Wesley is also survived by his cousin Cynthia Pitts (Harold), niece Shannon Pitts and nephews Rance and Chavez Wesley. Ty was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, his brother Harold, and his stepdaughter, Sherry Rusch.

A service and celebration of life is being planned for a later date, likely in the fall. In lieu of flowers, donations will be accepted for a Ty Wesley Scholarship Fund yet to be established. Please check the Olson Funeral Home website for updates on services and the scholarship. https://www.olsonfuneralhome.info/

The Olson Funeral Home & Cremation Service has been entrusted with Ty’s arrangements.