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Founder of trailer camp wanted place for officers and families to enjoy
By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008
Ray Wolter was a visionary.
The former Akron police officer and World War II veteran, founded Wolter Park, a place that fellow officers and their families enjoy as a home away from home.
It's a place where he spent a lot of his life and in recent years his summers, leasing space in the trailer camp. His recent winters were spent in Stuart, Fla.
Mr. Wolter died on Sept. 30 in Florida. He was 85.
A final tribute to him will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the Wolter Park Lodge on Ley Drive in Akron. Interment of his ashes will follow the memorial service at Greenlawn Memorial Park.
A widower since 1999, Mr. Wolter and his wife, Betty Roth, first lived in West Akron and then built a home in Franklin Township near the Portage Lakes area.
The couple had three children: sons Ray and Mitchell and daughter, Tracy Stevanov.
Mr. Wolter, who retired from the Akron Police Department in 1979, was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, Akron Lodge No. 7 and served as its president in 1974.
After selling its land in Suffield Township, the FOP purchased the Ley Drive property from the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.
''Since my dad was a police officer for 30 years,'' Stevanov said, ''he understood the stress of the job on an officer's personal life and the personal sacrifices policemen make every day. He wanted to find a place where officers could get together and socialize without outside confrontations.''
Mr. Wolter developed the 39-acre site into a club with a small lodge, children's playground, ball field and campsites.
''Ray spearheaded the effort, cleaned out the lake and perfected the land and made it into what it is today, so the members decided it should be called Wolter Park,'' said Paul Hlynsky, the president of FOP Lodge No. 7, and a campsite neighbor to Mr. Wolter. ''He donated a lot of personal money and time into the lodge.''
Mr. Wolter was also active with VFW Post 4194 in Stuart, Fla. He served in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1949 and for the past 14 years planned reunions for members of his World War II unit.
''He was very proud of his fellow officers and fellow soldiers,'' his daughter said. ''They were friendships he really appreciated. It was important to him.''
She recalled how police officers came to her home when she was 10 after her father had been in a motorcycle accident. ''Officers who knew my mom came to the house,'' Stevanov said. ''A phone call probably would have panicked her. All I know is, they took care of things and they were there for our family.''
Hlynsky described Mr. Wolter as very personable and someone who enjoyed giving.
''He was a silent donor,'' Hlynsky said. ''No one will ever know how many people he helped along the way. He was the type of person who would cut your grass and not tell you he did it.''
After retirement, Mr. Wolter stayed active with the retired police officers association and for 17 years worked 30-some hours a week as a seasonal employee at the city of Akron's 180-acre Good Park Golf Course. He was a golfer himself, until about five years ago when he hurt his back and had to give up the game and the job.
Mr. Wolter never bragged about who he was or his accomplishments.
Ten years ago when John Hall, an associate member of the FOP, first visited Wolter Park Lodge, he saw a black-and-white picture of a man in uniform over the fireplace.
''I remember reading the name, Ray Wolter, and thinking, 'What a fitting tribute for the founder of the lodge.' ''
But then one evening at a member's trailer, an older gentleman stopped by to chat, grabbed a beer and was introduced as Ray Wolter.
''My first words to him were, 'Mr. Wolter, I thought you were dead,' '' Hall said.
Friends said Mr. Wolter lived in the shadows, but never stopped dreaming.
''He wanted to eventually build condominiums for police retirees,'' Hlynsky said. ''I'm sure he would have accomplished that dream, too, if he had lived a little longer.''
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
Ray Wolter was a visionary.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 08:33 AM, 10/15/2008
A beautiful man that I will never forget!...he introduced me to a wide variety of litereature as he was an avid reader himself!...I am a former employee of FOP#7...and even though I was an "outsider"...he always made feel very welcome and was quick with a positive word or to lend a helping hand...I feel very lucky to have known him and my condolences to his family...truly a remarkable man!....mbaker
