'If there was a key to the city to give out, she would've had it:' Grafton remembers local historian

GRAFTON — Doris Wildenheim will be remembered for her contributions to Grafton's history as much as her work to preserve it. Wildenheim, 104, died Wednesday, leaving a mark on the village that won't soon be forgotten. "If there was a key to the city to give out, she would've had it," Mayor David DiVencenzo said. Born in Wellington during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, then-Doris Palmer graduated from Wellington High School in 1936 and from Bowling Green State University in 1938 with a teaching degree. She came back to Lorain County to teach at the Grafton Township School, then in Columbia Schools. In 1941, she married Walter Wildenheim, of Grafton. Less than a year later, Walter was drafted into World War II, where he served in Europe for three years, earning 17 battle stars and working as an early warning radar operator in the Signal Corps. Doris served as chairperson of the Army War Time Committee of Columbia Township in her husband's absence. When he returned home, she retired from teaching and the pair purchased the former Volunteer Food Store in 1946 — now the Grafton Sparkle Market. Walter Wildenheim died in October 2010 at 93. Their son, David Wildenheim, said that while growing up, his family's grocery store was a way of life. And later on, his mother's involvement in the village's history was much the same way. "She always, her whole life, always had to have something to do," he said. "(She was) not one to sit down and watch TV and play cards, things like that. She was always, always had to have something to do to occupy her mind and learn and discover things and figure things out." Both Doris and Walter were deeply involved in the Grafton Kiwanis Club, with the club presenting Doris with its Distinguished Service Award in 1961. It was through that club she would become one of Grafton's most well-known historians, writing books about the village, co-chairing the bicentennial committee in 2017, and having the ear of many at the Village Hall during her near-daily visits, DiVencenzo said. "I told her, 'Doris, I'm going to step down and make you mayor. How about that?' She would have nothing to do with it," DiVencenzo said with a laugh. "She liked to work from the background on a lot of this stuff. She liked to be the volunteer to help put the parades on, but as far as being a public official she was fine being in the background." She was known for her philanthropy to the village as well, covering the cost of the Patriots Band to come to Willow Park for the bicentennial, and countless other gifts, he said. Her work with the village's history came after her and her late husband's involvement in Holiday Ramblers travel trailers. The pair bought a trailer in 1968 and joined the RV club, with Doris Wildenheim again giving her all on various committees and elected roles. Doris and Walter Wildenheim visited all 50 states and portions of Canada, especially after their son took over the store in the mid-1980s, David Wildenheim said. When Doris and Walter first retired, the couple of 60-plus years moved to Florida, their son said, but Walter's health problems compelled them to move back north to Grafton. "Mom being mom was looking for something to do and she just kind of dove into helping out with that and one thing led to another and pretty soon there's this full-blown organization trying to consolidate and get all of Grafton's history in one place," he said. Her contributions to the village earned her the recognition of her own room at the Grafton-Midview Public Library, unveiled in 2017. The Doris Wildenheim Local History Room is brimming with binders of news clippings, interviews and other items she collected since she started on the project in 2004. At the time, Doris Wildenheim said with a laugh that it all just "fell into my lap" — and her son would agree. "Sometimes it seemed almost like detective work, an investigative kind of thing," he said Saturday. "That was stuff she liked to do and she really liked to continue to find out things and to learn and her whole life anything she did, she did it 100 percent or more. And when she decided to do something, it was going to get done one way or another." DiVencenzo doubts there will be anyone else like her. "Doris touched every one of those books," he said. "There's a hundred books in there just about different things that involved Grafton. … Nobody will ever fill those shoes, for her dedication to the village." Even after Doris Wildenheim had to give up driving at 100 years old, DiVencenzo would take a brown bag lunch to sit and meet with her, he said, and talked with her often over the phone. One of the last things DiVencenzo worked with her on was making sure the village's memorial walkway got put back in its place, the mayor said, with plans to put it at Bicentennial Park around a water feature. Now, there are talks of putting the walkway down again, and naming it in her honor, he said. Of the many roles Doris Wildenheim held in her 104 years, she gave her all, and then some, 100 percent of the time, her son said. "She was just a go-getter forever," he said. "And whenever she found something that she was interested in, she just went to work at it and did it 100 percent, best of her ability. "Things just happened that she just fell into that she just really enjoyed doing and you know how easy it is to do something when you enjoy doing it — that was the drive behind it." Visitation will be at Duke Funeral Home, 1021 Main St. in Grafton, from 5-8 p.m. Wednesday. A private service and burial will follow. Memorial donations may be made to the Grafton-Midview Public Library Endowment Fund or Grafton Methodist Church. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.