Willard Wecker

Bud Wecker, 90, died Jan. 10, 2012. Bud led a life of gentle, cheerful sacrifice. In any con-sideration --particularly when it involved his wife, his five children, his mother and siblings or his church -- he put himself second. A graduate of the Carnegie Institute of Technology with a degree in industrial engineering, his career was spent computerizing Goodyear Tire & Rubber. Prior to that, he served in the Navy during World War II as a radio corpsman. But his life was devoted to his family and his church. He instilled a love of God and a sense of humor in his children. Many times, he told them he would gladly get for them anything they needed, but not everything they wanted. He remained throughout his life a child of the Great Depression. The elder of his two sons, David, a former newspaper columnist for The Cincinnati Post, occasionally wrote about his father. On one visit home, David made this observation: "Dad had a rubber band around the top of each sock. I asked him why, and he said the elastic in his socks was shot, so he was using rubber bands to hold them up. OK, so maybe he should throw away those socks and get new ones? 'Nah, the socks are still good,' Dad said. 'Everything's good but the elastic.'" He and his wife, the former Dorothy Jane Sweet, moved from Fairlawn shortly after they married to a 16-acre farm in Sharon Center because they wanted their children to grow up in the country. They helped him when it would be time to harvest blueberries or raspberries from his berry patches or cherries and apples from his orchards. He kept beehives and harvested a rich, dark honey. He saw to it that his children had ponies and fed them every morning himself, even after the older ones had gone off to college. He put all five of his children through college. He often reminded himself and his family how fortunate they all were to have each other. He dearly loved the old farmhouse he restored and where he brought up his family. His health had been declining over the past two decades, bit by bit, to the point recently where he had difficulty feeding himself. But he remained steadfast in his cheerful humor. He had a ready answer to questions from friends about how he was holding up: "Pretty good. But there's one thing I can't do anymore," he would say with make-believe regret. And what's that, Mr. Wecker? "The dishes." He and his wife were married 62 years. He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sharon Center for 61 years. He and Dorothy leave behind children, David and his wife, Karen, of Alexandria, Ky., Deborah Johnston and her husband, Norman, of Adams Center, N.Y., Nancy Wecker of Sharon Center, Elizabeth Wecker of Sharon Center, and Andrew Wecker and his wife, Kendra, of Sunbury, Ohio. He and his wife also have 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 6462 Ridge Rd., Sharon Center, with Rev. Judy McGuire officiating. Inurnment at Sharon Center Cemetery. Friends may call 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of Medina County, the Alzheimer's Association or the Parkinson's Foundation. (Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)