Memorial Service for Mr. and Mrs. Dean Wilgus to be held at the Memorial Stage in Cadiz Union Cemetery on Saturday, Aug. 12 at 11 a.m. Tax deductible donations may be made to the Harrison County Dog Pound Volunteers c/o 82900 Toot Road, Cadiz, Ohio 43907 or Huskies Sports Foundations Inc., 614 Peppard Ave, Cadiz, Ohio 43907. A Luncheon to follow at the Methodist Church at noon.
Mrs. Helen Louise (Ezie) Wilgus, nee Long, 94, passed away in her sleep Wednesday night, April 20, in Columbus, Ohio. She succumbed from complications of congestive heart failure and a lung embolism. Born March 12, 1923, in Cadiz, Ohio, she was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, Herbert Dean Wilgus, on Feb. 16, 2017. Her parents were Virginia Long and Alferd C. Long. She is survived by a brother, Curt Long of Columbus, her two sons, Kevin Wilgus of Hilliard, Ohio, and Peter Wilgus of Cleveland, Ohio, and two grandsons, Justin Wilgus of Los Angeles, California, and Kyle Wilgus of Columbus, Ohio.
Ezie met Dean, a WWII veteran pilot who flew 37 missions over Europe, when they were both reporters in Columbus, Ohio, after the war. They were married in 1948. They moved to Cadiz, and Dean went to work for, and subsequently bought the Long Fir Gutter Company, from Virginia Long (Ezies mother, who was
the granddaughter of noted Cadiz builder EM Long.) Dean and Ezie continued to operate the business with success, and built it into a multi state building materials wholesaler, which was later renamed Lumber Wholesalers, still at it’s original location on Lincoln Ave. Dean and Ezie were instrumental in getting the Cadiz Airport built, with the generous help of Hanna Coal company, now Consolidated Coal. They also worked with other local businessmen to bring a hospital to Cadiz. The Cadiz Hospital built on the former site of the Harrison County Childrens Home, which was itself originally constructed by Ezie’s great grandfather, E.M Long.
Mrs. Wilgus was active in Cadiz in various social clubs and charity organizations. She served on the Cadiz school board in the early 1970s. For many years in the 1960’s and 70s, she wrote a weekly human interest column published in the Cadiz Republican, now the Harrison News Herald. She was known to fondly refer to the Cadiz Republican as “The Blab”.
She will be very much missed by family and friends. A joint service for both she and her husband will held at Cadiz Cemetery on Saturday, Aug. 12 at 11 a.m. prior to the all class Cadiz High School Reunion weekend.