ONALASKA, Wis. — For nearly three decades, Jay and Nancy Flury have been teaching Onalaska students basic skills the kids will use forever.

Elementary school children learned to read and write from Nancy, while Jay taught teens how to drive.
But when the school bell rings June 4, the Flurys’ tenure with the Onalaska School District will end and the couple will begin their next chapter in life the same way they’ve done everything else: together.

Jay, 54, and Nancy, 55, came to Onalaska when the district was looking for a driver’s education instructor in 1979.

They had spent a few years teaching on the eastern side of the state but wanted to return permanently to the Coulee Region.

“We wanted to get back home,” Nancy said. “We wanted to be here.”

The Flurys were high school sweethearts who graduated from Arcadia High School in 1971. She lived on Main Street in Arcadia, while he grew up in nearby Waumandee, Wis.

They majored in elementary education and found jobs in Seymour, Wis., after college.

Jay taught elementary school during the day and moonlighted with a driver’s education program. Nancy taught at a private school.

On weekends, they made the three-hour trek to visit the Coulee Region.

“Family is very important to us,” Nancy said. “We both grew up in big families and are very involved with our nieces and nephews.”

License to drive

Jay became a driver’s education instructor by chance.

While attending Winona State University for elementary education, a class he needed wasn’t available. He ended up in a safety class and found a minor that would become his primary teaching area.

When Jay applied for the position, school districts throughout the state had similar programs, he said. But times had changed and the numbers have dwindled. Onalaska’s program came to an end last year.

More than 5,000 Onalaska students learned the classroom basics of driver’s education from Jay, and he estimated two-thirds went on the road with him for behind-the-wheel training.

“I got to see a lot of progress, especially behind-the-wheel,” Jay said. “There is a great deal of skill development from hour one to hour six. But it is also a life skill. I gave kids something they could use when they left OHS.”

Superintendent John Burnett said Jay always saw driver’s education as more than simply helping the young driver obtain their license when they turn 16.

“He would talk about learning the rules of the road, consumer education, seat belt use, drinking and driving, and environmental education,” Burnett said.

“Many people felt reassured because they knew (their children) had Jay Flury as an instructor for class,” he said. “Our highways are certainly safer because of the efforts of Jay Flury.”

Jay was diagnosed in June 2004 with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow, and there is no cure. He’s undergone chemotherapy and two stem cell transplants. He was on medical leave this school year.

“I am doing well,” he said. “I am doing well.”

Kids and colleagues

Nancy’s first teaching job with the district was at Fauver Hill in 1980, and she was laid off after two school years.

Fortunately, she said, a position opened in 1982 at Northern Hills Elementary School.

More than 600 first- and third-graders have since received their educational start from “Mrs. Flury.”

They are greeted by her kind, sweet voice and sent home each day with a hug.

“Without having kids of my own, they certainly were like family to me,” Nancy said of her students. “It has been very much a surrogate position for me. I really love working with younger children.”

Nancy began her college studies in speech pathology but found herself enjoying education classes. She knew she had made the right decision when she missed teaching during her time off.

“I knew this is my fit,” she said.

Nancy remained loyal to Northern Hills because she liked the neighborhood school concept.

“There was a real core of people who were colleagues and friends who helped me be the teacher I am and helped Jay and I personally,” Nancy said. “We had some challenges — health and otherwise — and they were always there.”

Burnett described Nancy as a “very, very dedicated teacher, who parents can’t say enough good things about.”

“She could literally — at this stage of the game — write a book about what it means to be a successful first-grade teacher,” he said.

Moving on

This fall will mark the first time in 49 years that Jay and Nancy don’t have a class to attend or students to teach.

They aren’t certain what exactly that means yet, but they are hoping it means time to travel, see family and enjoy life.

Autumn Grooms can be reached at (608) 791-8424 or agrooms@lacrossetribune.com.

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