Stark County community to honor Akron war hero, influential music educator with concerts
Akron resident Richard F. “Rick” Stoltz likely had no idea when drafted in 1969 at age 19 that he would become a multi-decorated American hero of the Vietnam War for his bravery and valor.
And Stark County musician and music educator J. Ted Wenger, as a young trumpet and French horn rising star, probably never dreamed of the impact his career would have on so many lives of his public and university students who followed in his footsteps as classroom teachers and professional musicians.
Now both are to be saluted this month with separate free concerts by the 66-member Canal Fulton Community Band as a tribute for all the lives both have touched.
The concert honoring Stoltz, who served in Vietnam and Cambodia and received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star with oak-leaf cluster, will take place 7 p.m. July 15 at the Ohio Veterans’ Memorial Park at 8005 S. Cleveland Massillon Road in Summit County’s village of Clinton.
The tribute for Wenger will be held 7 p.m. July 31 at the Duncan Plaza amphitheater in front of the Massillon Police Department and Municipal Court Building off Lincoln Way East and First Street Southeast.
Concertgoers are urged to bring chairs to enjoy both programs. If canceled due to inclement weather, the performances will each be the following night and same time.
Remembering American war hero Rick Stoltz
The Clinton concert of patriotic music and narrative is being dedicated to Stoltz, who died May 28 at age 72 after living in Akron most of his life. He retired from the U.S. Postal Service after 30 years.
During duty with the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, Stoltz was a “Tunnel Rat,” according to current Ohio Veterans' Memorial Park Board President and Army veteran Gary Kindig, who explained the designation was given to those who performed underground search-and-destroy missions.
Shortly after returning stateside, the dedicated park volunteer and financial supporter became an ardent advocate for veterans and had been a dedicated longtime volunteer and financial supporter of the OVMP, which was dedicated May 17, 2009, according to Kindig, who was drafted out of his alma mater, Manchester High School, in 1966.
Clinton Mayor Bud McDaniel, who served on the OVMP board with Stoltz, called Stoltz “a fantastic person, a park volunteer from the beginning. He did it all, and I was saddened when I received word of his passing.”
Because the $1.7-million scenic, historical and recreational memorial is privately funded and has never received any government funding, donations are welcome, Kindig said. He added that a lap top quilt and wooden American flag are to be raffled off and other military merchandise will be sold at the concert.
Contributions also can be made to the non-profit organization at the park site, online at www.ovmp.org, or by mail to OVMP, P.O. Box 3, 8005 Cleveland Massillon Road, Clinton, OH 44216-8918.
The idea and discussion of a memorial to honor Ohio veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice defending America began several years before the Clinton memorial became a reality, Kindig explained. Groups from Akron, Columbus and Mansfield met several times before the latter two groups stepped aside and Akron area proponents moved forward.
Kindig said several area locations were considered before the Clinton site was chosen across the street from the Clinton Cemetery. Ground was broken for the park in 2007 on the 1.6-acre hayfield owned by the Clinton Cemetery Association.
The park, where nobody is buried, honors Ohio veterans from all wars, all branches of military service and those serving in both war and peacetime. Kindig noted the mission is to preserve the memories of those who swore to protect “the American way of life – FREEDOM.”
The main attraction among hundreds throughout the park is the 125-foot, free-standing granite Ohio Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall with 3,095 names of fallen Ohio veterans etched alphabetically on one side and names of 1,822 Ohioan vets lost in the Korean War etched on the other side.
Standing facing the “Lest We Forget” granite wall are the life-size Gold Star Mother and Gold Star Father statues carved by Ken Noon and members of his Summit Memorials of Akron team, which also sand-plasted and etched the memorial wall names.
Kindig said the Gold Star Mother statue was dedicated to Lane’s mother, which by coincidence its gaze is fixed on her daughter’s name on the wall. The fathers’ statue is the first monument in the nation dedicated to fathers of Ohio’s Fallen Heroes.
More than 100 benches throughout the park are dedicated to fallen Ohio war veterans.
The park is open 24-hours-a-day, year-round.
Other features include a M60 Patten Tank, a 48-foot-long Cobra Helicopter, a 1946 Dodge ambulance, a POW/MIA reflecting pond and eternal flame, the Family of Heroes Hall and pavilion and much more.
The Ted Wenger Tribute
Barbara Wenger said she and her husband, Ted, graduated from Canton South High School a year apart, with Ted, now 86, graduating in 1955 and she a year later. He went on to Kent State University, earning his music degree in 1959.
Throughout high school, she was Ted’s piano accompanist during rehearsals and solo competitions.
As a South High sophomore, Barbara said she was too young to go to the junior-senior prom so she helped Ted wash the car in which he took another girl.
Already smitten by Ted in high school, Barbara said, “We didn’t begin going together until we were both at Kent. We married in 1958. And I’d do it all over again.”
The pair raised two children, son Jeff and daughter Jennifer Wenger Elliott. The couple, who celebrated their 65th anniversary in June, have five grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Son Jeff said: “I always knew my hero was a great father and that I was raised by loving parents. But it wasn’t until I was older that I realized just how influential my father was in the lives of so many others. It is truly an honor to be his son.”
"He's the funniest man I have ever known and the best dad a girl could ever hope for," added his daughter, Jennifer.
Wenger spent 34 years as a high school band director – four years each at Sandy Valley and Canton Local and then 26 years at Massillon Perry Schools, beginning in 1967. He earned his master’s certification from VanderCook College of Music during his early teaching days by spending six weeks each of four summers taking classes.
In the 1970s, Wenger was one of three music instructors chosen to take over 200 student instrumentalists and vocalists, including 19 from Perry, on a 28-day School Bands of America performance tour through eight European countries, with Wenger directing the group’s jazz band.
He retired from Perry in 1993, but he didn’t leave the profession or his performing. He played with several local bands, including the John Tripani Big Band, Bob Blyer’s Meadowbrook Big Band and the Canton Concert band.
From at least a decade beginning in 1997, he was an adjunct music instructor at the University of Mount Union. He also directed the Stark County Fair Band for over decade through 2013.
Asked about his musical career and teaching, Wenger often said, “I couldn’t believe I got paid for doing what I loved.” He also said he was delighted that so many of his students followed in his footsteps.
Among the many students he influenced was 1979 Perry graduate trombonist Paul Ferguson, who graduated from the University of Akron and Eastman School of Music and played with notable big bands, including the Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey orchestras. Since 1988, Ferguson has been the director of jazz studies at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
As a tribute to his longtime friend and mentor, Ferguson has re-arranged one of Wenger’s favorite Henry Mancini tunes, “Two for the Road,” for this concert and will perform the work with the Canal Fulton band at the Duncan Plaza concert. He also will sit in with the band for the entire concert of show tunes and popular marches, according to Pat Grutzmacher, the band’s longtime conductor.
Massillon Mayor Kathy Carazaro-Perry, a 1980 Perry graduate and three-year majorette with the marching band, said: “Ted was a fabulous band director and knew how to have fun while caring about his students and the whole community. Ted respected the students and they respected him. I want to personally honor him at the concert because everybody loves Ted Wenger.”
Susan Bair, who worked with Wenger for 18 years of her 30-year teaching career, said: “Ted had a charisma that encouraged students to rally around him and work diligently to accomplish what he asked of them. His standards were high, and the students were inspired to do their best for him. He created an atmosphere that taught students to work together to achieve the goals set for them.
“Over the years since we have both retired I have talked to many former students. Their comments are always positive when describing their band experiences with Ted. He was demanding — and they loved him for it.”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Concerts to honor Akron war hero, influential Stark music educator
