Edward Schaefer Wingenroth

Edward Schaefer Wingenroth was a Valentine's Day gift to Elsie Barbara Schaefer and Alfred J. Wingenroth on February 14th 1926. He attended the Joyce Kilmer School (IPS 69) and went on to graduate from Shortridge High School in 1944. At Shortridge, Ed played on the football team his first two years before being side-lined by athlete's foot. He had a lifelong interest in stamp collecting and was president of the Shortridge Stamp Club. In high school, Ed studied history and art. He also enjoyed practicing as an amateur magician. Ed enlisted in the Air Force "because they let you graduate from high school" and after high school graduation he was trained as a waist gunner in the B17 bomber shortly before the end of WWII. Ed was stationed in many exciting towns: San Antonio, Kingman, Arizona, Las Vegas (they were still riding horses in town) and Madison, Wisconsin. The war ended and Ed was sent to Guam to serve as a guard for Japanese prisoners.

After the war Edward attended Butler University, Indiana University, and Purdue taking courses to fulfill time requirements to enter the field of Optometry. He was accepted to the Northern Illinois School of Optometry in 1948, but before leaving for Chicago he married the girl he met his Freshman year playing tic- tac- toe andtoe and the love of his life, Mildred Nulsen "Dolly" Balke. They eloped and were on their way north to Michigan when Ed ran a four- way stop in Goshen, Indiana and landed Dolly in the hospital with broken ribs onfor their honeymoon.

After graduation from Northern Illinois, Dolly and Edward decided to move back to Indianapolis to begin Ed's optometry practice. Edward juggled part-time optometry jobs and worked as a milk man until he saved enough money to open his own practice. Edward was an early adopter being one of the first optometrists in Indianapolis to realize that contact lenses were an opportunity and not a threat. He worked for many years on East 38th Street before buying a practice at L.S. Ayres. In the 1970's he left Ayres and again had his own practice in the King Cole Building with Dolly acting as receptionist. They worked happily together for many years until Edward retired.

Ed was a renaissance man. Learning about optics, he had a life-long interest in photography. He was active in the Indianapolis Camera Club and won some national prizes with some of his photos. He collected stamps, coins and in mid-life developed an interest in growing Bonsai trees and making Japanese laterns. Ed was an avid chess player and quickly solved the chess problem of the day into his late 80's.

Dolly and Ed enjoyed travel and hard work on their Northern Michigan (Walloon Lake) cottage until Dolly passed away in 2004. After Dolly's death, Ed continued his hobbies and attempted to add tomato growing to his skills. He very much enjoyed attending Science Tech club and out witting squirrels at his bird feeders. He could often be found riding his recumbent bike on the Monon trail well into his late 80's.

In his declining years Ed was often accompanied by his loving daughter and caregiver Holly Wingenroth Lambert. Ed is also survived by his other daughters Kris Wingenroth (Houston), Jan Wingenroth (Spokane, Wa), and his granddaughters Cindy Lambert Crowe and Leigh Fredrickson (Madison, Wi.) and his son-in-laws Paul Blankenship and Dennis Fredrickson and grandson-in-law Chad Crowe.

The Memorial Service will be Thursday, March 3rd at Traditions at Solana, 7721 Battery Pointe Way, Indianapolis. Visitation from 4:30 to 5 pm. Service at 5 pm. Donations in his honor may be made to the Walloon Lake Association.