Emma Nelson Wenker, 1901-2001…..She was called Globe’s “most gracious lady” and known for her dedication and commitment to community and public service projects in her copper town. She was born in Prescott in 1901, the daughter of John and Esther R. Nelson of Crown King. There were no practicing medical physicians in Crown King in this early period, and the Nelsons rented a small house in Prescott during the length of Esther’s pregnancy. The baby was named Emma. A scarlet fever epidemic in Prescott was serious enough for county physicians to call for a quarantine in the area, and the Nelsons and their children remained in Prescott and made their home there. John Nelson suffered a stroke in 1903 and Esther was pregnant again and needed help in caring for her husband and her children. The Nelsons moved to Edinburgh, Illinios to be closer to family who would assist Esther in raising her children and caring for her husband. When John died at the age of forty-two, Emma’s grandfather built a home for Esther and her six children in Taylorville, Illinois, where Emma grew up. By 1919, Esther and her family returned to Crown King and the Nelsons met and overcame another challenge: Emma was already eighteen years of age and she needed to complete her high school education. There was no high school in Crown King for Emma to attend. But that didn’t stop Esther from finding a solution to that. She learned that Tempe Normal School enabled students to enroll in their “academic curriculum” and complete a high school education. And Emma completed her secondary school education at the age of nineteen in 1920 at the Tempe Normal School. She joined her brother in New York City and soon found work there. Two years later, and with more practical work experience, Emma returned to Phoenix. She soon met M.B.”Wink” Wenker, an enterprising businessman, who courted Emma and married her in 1923. The couple raised a family in Phoenix, but business opportunities brought the Wenkers to Globe in 1943. “Wink” bought the L.L. Litchfield Store, located on the corner of the busy south Broad and Oak streets in the heart of Globe’s business section, and renamed it “Wink’s Confectionary Store.” The business prospered, and became popular with merchants, high school students, and community groups. “Wink’s” served food items, maintained a popular newspaper stand, soda fountain, a lunch counter, where Emma served sandwiches from hams and corned beef she prepared. The store also sold draft beer and packaged liquor. A favorite customer at “Wink’s” was Arizona governor, Dan Garvey, who stopped there while in Globe on Gila County business. Emma Wenker began working at the Globe Chamber of Commerce in 1954 as secretary to several managers over the years and in small office space at the Tonto Hotel on the corner of east Mesquite and Broad Street. In 1959, she was appointed the first woman manager of the Globe chamber, one of only two women managers of a chamber of commerce in the United States. Emma’s goals were to preserve Globe’s history and improve the educational and business opportunities in the Globe area. For the next twelve years, 1959-1971, Emma Wenker organized city clean-up projects; prepared and published tourism pamphlets and articles promoting Gila County and the town of Globe; organized city band concerts; promoted better business and public relations with the tribal leaders of the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. In 1961, Emma oversaw the relocation of the Chamber of Commerce offices into a new building on Broad Street. Emma retired from her work as Manager of the Globe Chamber of Commerce in 1972. During those years, however, Emma remained active in a variety of community service groups in Globe. The Globe Business and Professional Women named her as “Woman of the Year” in 1965. She was a founding member and the first president of the popular Tuesday Book Club; an active member of the American Legion Auxiliary, the Manzanita Garden Club, Globe League of Women Voters, the Globe Woman’s Club; the Chamber of Commerce Managers Association, the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, among others. In 1960, Emma Wenker was one of five finalists for the Arizona Republic’s Fair Lady Contest. In 1971, she was named Globe’s Woman of the Year. Emma died in Globe in 2001, just two months before her 100th birthday. (Source: The History of Globe, Arizona. By Donna Anderson. Published in 2007 by Classic Day Publishing.)… .
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 18:07:51 +0000
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