Dan Benitz, a retired industrial technology teacher and long time friend of Doreen and Skeeter Wilber, did the final repairs Wednesday morning on the Doreen Wilber statue at the corner of Lincoln Way and Vine St in Jefferson.
According to Don Orris, who organized the fundraising and then did much of the work in creating the tribute to Olympic gold medalist Doreen Wilber, he and Skeeter Wilber thought immediately of Benitz when they were advised by sculptor Jeff Adams to get “an experienced problem solver” to deal with the repairs.
“Dan taught more than industrial tech in the Greene County School – he taught problem solving,” Orris said.
Last week Benitz and Vern Foje worked at straightening two arrows bent by juvenile vandals in June. Benitz said then that welding bronze, necessary to reattach the broken arrow, would be a challenge. He formulated a plan and returned a week later to do the job.
The only reminder that the statue was vandalized is damage to the patina. Adams, of Illinois, will be in Iowa in late August to deliver a statue of golfer Zach Johnson to the Iowa Hall of Pride in Des Moines. Adams will come to Jefferson at that time and match the patina to complete the repair.
Orris thanks Lindsey and Mitch Larson for lending portable equipment needed for the repairs.
The vandals have not been publicly identified.
