Like so many others in the community, we are mourning the passing of WCHS board member and past president Dave Broehl, without whom the Wayne County Historical Society truly would not be what it is today. Dave served as president of the historical society twice, from 1994 to 1996 and again from 2012 to 2014. He was a cheerful and indefatigable volunteer, who worked countless hours as a docent and especially loved to see school groups – he called them “the future of the historical society” – touring the campus.
The establishment of the permanent collection exhibit was Dave’s vision and he worked tirelessly to make it a reality, from developing the design and securing the funding to recruiting volunteers to develop the displays and cleaning out the areas where much of the collection had been stored away. Of the 61 categories in the historical society’s collections, only 14 were on permanent display before the successful completion of the permanent collection project. Now all 61 are represented. Dave put together the Coxon Belleek display himself, which is only right, since he literally wrote the book on Coxon Belleek china, published in 2009 by the Wooster Book Company.
Dave received the historical society’s George W. Schwartz Distinguished Service Award in 1998, and the Alvin Rich Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
Rest easy, old friend.
