Obituary of Mary Vimmerstedt

Mary (Galt) Vimmerstedt, age 92 of Wooster, OH passed away on August 23 in Aurora, Colorado after several years of declining health. Mary Eva Galt was born in New York, New York in 1927, to Rogers Harrison Galt and Elizabeth (Bowler) Galt. She married John Paul Vimmerstedt on January 31, 1953. Mrs. Vimmerstedt graduated from Mountain Lakes High School in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey in 1946, and attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine before completing her Bachelor’s Degree at University of Michigan in 1950. From 1950 - 1952, she taught high school math, science, and physical education in New Hampshire.

Mrs. Vimmerstedt dedicated herself to her family. While taking care of her nephew, she met Mr. Vimmerstedt in Syracuse, New York. After marrying, the couple followed Mr. Vimmerstedt’s military assignments to Fort Dix, New Jersey, and Fort Benning, Georgia, and lived in North Carolina and Connecticut during his professional education and early career in forestry. Mrs. Vimmerstedt moved her growing family to Wooster, Ohio in 1963, when Mr. Vimmerstedt started his research professorship at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. The family enjoyed swimming, canoeing, camping, and music together.

Mrs. Vimmerstedt was a swimming instructor in the American Red Cross / Wooster Parks and Recreation program for many years, approaching instruction for adult beginners with care, patience, and analytic precision. She loved teaching adapted aquatics, helping children overcome barriers and launch into the pool. She continued to study mathematics and teaching, auditing mathematics classes at the College of Wooster, and receiving a teaching license after completing education classes at the Ohio State University.

Mrs. Vimmerstedt believed in civic participation as an expression of her patriotism, advocating for women’s reproductive health, and taking an active role in many civic organizations.

Mrs. Vimmerstedt is survived by four children and ten grandchildren: Carol Crawford of Denmark, Wisconsin (husband Jim Crawford; Mary, Ben, and Sam Crawford); Margaret Vimmerstedt of Chapel Hill, North Carolina (husband Loren Hintz; Carl Hintz); William Vimmerstedt of Columbus, Ohio (Joseph, Elaina, William, and Henry Vimmerstedt); and Laura Vimmerstedt of Denver, Colorado (husband Christian Hopfer; Theodor and Alex Hopfer). We will miss her thoughtful, committed, psychologically sophisticated devotion to family and remember her commitment to equality and open mindedness. She rejoiced in our growth and perceptively engaged with our challenges. Values of health and physical activity, music, detailed and strategic analysis, parenting of young children and empathy to all are legacies of Mrs. Vimmerstedt that will live on.

Burial will be August 27, 1:00pm, at Evergreen Memorial Park, Colorado. Donations in her memory may be sent to Viola Startzman Clinic, 1874 Cleveland Rd., Wooster, OH 44691