John Wehmeyer - Obituary
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
John M. Wehmeyer, a versatile commercial photographer and partner in a leading Toledo visual production firm who for more than a decade was a Morgan horse enthusiast, died April 11 in Perrysburg Commons, where he lived the past two years. He was 85.
Mr. Wehmeyer retired in 1997 from Walbridge & Bellg. Mr. Wehmeyer and the late El Myers — who mainly managed the firm’s business affairs — bought partnership interests in 1956. Mr. Wehmeyer was elected a vice president in 1961. At its peak in the 1980s, W&B had more than 20 staff photographers and also produced videos, films, and multimedia packages for clients around the country.
In the late 1970s, he developed an interest in Morgan horses. He showed several through the years under the direction of Larry Bolen and Cedar Creek Farm.
"He never really rode, but he did like to drive [and] was pretty good at it," Mr. Bolen said. A horse Mr. Wehmeyer co-owned won a Grand National Amateur Gentlemen’s Pleasure Driving Championship.
"He did this as a sport, to have fun," Mr. Bolen said. "The horse world is full of people who are interested in the same things. He liked the people. He liked the socializing. He liked the parties and just being part of the events."
He took the cover photograph for the programs of the Grand National & World Championship Morgan Horse Show.
He was born April 28, 1928, to Esther and Richard Wehmeyer and was a 1947 graduate of Whitmer High School. He was an Army veteran and served in Europe. At Ohio University, he was drum major for the marching band and a photography major.
Tributes are suggested to Planned Pethood in Toledo.
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