By Anita Weier
Northside News

Friends and admirers of former Dane County Supervisor Dorothy Wheeler are raising money to honor her with a bench at Lake View Hill Park.

Wheeler led the effort to rezone and designate Lake View Hill as a Dane County park, saving it from proposed development. “We would like to show Dorothy her bench this spring,” said Janet Battista, a member of the fundraising group.

The bench would overlook Lake Mendota in the park Wheeler helped establish. A Dane County park bench with flagstone footrest, plaque and installation costs $4,000. As of this writing, the group has raised about $1,600.

If you would like to help, go to the GoFundMe page for Honor Dorothy Wheeler with a LVH park bench. Or, if you would prefer to send a check, make it payable to Friends of Lake View Hill Park, write Dorothy Wheeler in the memo line, and mail it to FOLVHP, P.O. Box 8813, Madison, WI 53708-8813. Priscilla Herman, treasurer of the Friends of Lake View Hill Park, is managing the donations.

A longtime Madison resident, Wheeler has touched many lives through her service on the Dane County Board from 2004 to 2010 and her long career as a teacher in Madison public schools. An environmental advocate, she served on the boards of the Friends of Lake View Hill Park and the Friends of Cherokee Marsh for many years. She is also an active member of the League of Women Voters.

Lake View Hill Park includes the grounds of the former Lake View Sanatorium, established in 1930 for treating patients with tuberculosis. All 48 acres surrounding this historic site are included in the park, which has 42 acres of woodland and meadow hiking trails. The sanatorium building now houses the Dane County Human Services Department.