WW2 Veteran Ralph Wehlitz - Photo by WAOW
MERRILL, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Ralph Wehlitz, a World War II veteran known for many things around Merrill, including his passion for model railroading, turned one hundred on Thursday.
People from all walks of life attended his one-hundredth birthday bash at Polka-Dotted Pie in Merrill, some coming as far as Marinette, who knew him from the model railroading community.
Wehlitz is one of an estimated 119,000 World War II veterans still alive nationwide today and one of just 2,700 living in Wisconsin, according to the National WW2 Museum. During his time overseas, Wehlitz saw combat in North Africa and then in Italy, where he lost his dominant left hand while taking cover from German mortar fire with his fellow soldiers.
Despite that, Wehlitz persevered and completed college before working as an English and social studies teacher in the Merrill school system for many years. Wehlitz stated that he was not at his birthday celebration for the pie but for the lemon cake, his favorite, and stated that one of his favorite gifts received was a portrait from a woman who helped care for him a few years ago and still stays in touch.
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