VICTOR A. HONERMANN, CLASS OF 1957, arrived at Boys Town on March 9, 1950 from Adrian, Minnesota at the age of 11 with his 14 year old brother Gilbert.  Tragically their father died when Vic was only three years old and his mother passed away when he had just turned eleven.  With nowhere to turn, Honermann’s older sister, a Catholic nun, spoke with her Mother Superior who knew a priest at Boys Town and both boys were quickly on their way to Nebraska.  After his arrival, he was initially very homesick for Minnesota and the farm but after meeting another boy who talked him into going swimming in the grade school pool he decided the place wasn’t too bad after all and he embraced everything that Boys Town had to offer.  Honermann always had a penchant for working with his hands and woodworking met that need.  He began by working at the grade school wood hobby shop and taking shop class to learn more about the trade.  He also became a Boy Scout and remained in scouting until his graduation from high school earning the level of Silver Explorer and the Ad Altare Dei Award. 

Honermann also found comfort and faith in being an altar boy and enjoyed the challenge of learning Latin and working with the different priests at Boys Town.  He could often be found fishing at Boys Town’s lake; it is a pastime  he still enjoys.  What he found most rewarding was the ability to bond with the other boys with whom he lived.  He established life-long friendships that continue to this day.  When he entered high school he chose the Woodworking  class at the Boys Town Trade School and excelled in the trade and was the head picture framer.  He was also a member of the Boys Town Army Reserve Military Police Unit in his junior and senior years.  Honermann was a commissioner in Boys Town’s program of self-government and Class President in his senior year and served as Class Secretary as a sophomore.  He also participated in Boys Town’s intramural and inter-scholastic athletics and earned a minor letter in baseball as a junior. 
 

At graduation, Honermann and a large group of his classmates headed off to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for basic training and a six month stint on active duty before serving eight years in the Army National Guard.
 

Upon returning to Minnesota, Honermann was offered the opportunity to take a job in a cabinet shop in Mitchell, South Dakota and he gathered all is worldly belongings and moved to where he would eventually make his lifetime home.  He was fortunate to have a caring mentor who taught him how to be a good craftsman.  After nearly seven years and at the age of 26 he purchased the equipment needed to open his own cabinet shop and remains in the woodcraft business today.  There were tough times when the housing market collapsed in the 1980s where he almost lost his business.  His brother Gilbert was there to give him a helping hand in order to keep his business afloat.  By 1991 Honermann had brought his son Mike into the business (Mike had been a deep-sea diver in California).  Not wanting to be locked into a single product shop he reshaped the product line of Quality Wood Designs and began mass production of Ducks Unlimited products and custom fishing rod racks for Cabela’s catalog sales.  His business kept growing and now Honermann, who is semi-retired (although he is at the shop almost every day), is able to see his once small business operating out of a 90,000 square foot building and employing 40 people.  He has developed a full line of various products that are in use from large retail stores to high school and college locker rooms.  His vision, integrity, commitment to excellence and customer service keeps the business he built thriving and growing.
 

Honermann is active in his Holy Spirit Parish and has been a member of the Knights of Columbus.  He continued his love of scouting by building, with his assistant Scoutmaster,  the Parish Troop from 14 to 60 boys in just four years.
 

Honermann and his wife Amy of 54 years have four children; Mike, who is now an owner of Quality Wood Designs, Susie who lives in Wisconsin, Angie, who lives in Sioux Falls and Mary who lives in Mitchell; all three are nurses following in their mother’s footsteps who is also a nurse.  They have 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.  Honermann credits his upbringing at Boys Town for giving him the skills and strength to succeed in life.  He and Amy still live in the same house they bought back in the early 1960s although He says he has changed cabinets out several times over the years!  His strong support of the alumni association dates back to his first alumni chapter meeting when he realized how much his connection to Boys Town meant to him.  He supports the work of Boys Town by contributing financially to the home of his youth.  Honermann is a Lifetime Member of the Boys Town National Alumni Association.