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Residents cited for preserving heritage

WHEELING — Six area residents have been named 2017 West Virginia History Heroes for their efforts to preserve and interpret the heritage of local communities.

They, along with other honorees chosen statewide, will be recognized March 9 during the annual History Day observance at the state Culture Center in Charleston.

The newest History Heroes include James Cochran of Moundsville, Sidney Grisell of Glen Dale, Joseph Laker of Wheeling, Diane M. Rhodes of Bridgeport, Erin Denise Rothenbuehler of Wheeling and Tammy M. Withers of Bethany.

• Withers, a teacher, was nominated by the Brooke County Historical Museum and Culture Center in Wellsburg. She has been the center’s financial secretary for more than three years and is a member of several committees.

Her nominators stated, “After the museum was authorized to move into a new facility, she spent evenings and weekends cleaning and painting the main display and gift shop areas.”

In early 2016, Withers took photographs and created checklist sheets for a museum scavenger hunt. Later, approximately 170 elementary students were taken to the museum to search for items shown on photo sheets; this activity exposed them to the history of their community.

• Cochran, a longtime staff writer and former Marshall County bureau chief for The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register, was nominated for the honor by the Marshall County Historical Society. He continues to write a weekly column for the Sunday News-Register.

In nominating Cochran, historical society officials stated that he “has made the local community aware of its past through the pages” of the newspapers for six decades. Cochran is a longtime member of the Marshall County Planning Commission and serves on the local landmarks commission.

“Cochran is a strong supporter of a museum of local history in the old West Virginia Penitentiary. He is a veritable fount of historical knowledge and information,” the nominators stated.

• Grisell, CEO of Grisell Funeral Homes and Crematory, was nominated by the Cockayne Farmstead Preservation Project, of which he has been a member since 2005. When the Glen Dale project was in its infancy, “he opened doors and bridged relationships with community leaders and contributors,” the nominators stated.

He and his wife, Bonnie, made their bed and breakfast facility, the Bonnie Dwaine House, available for gatherings and events to benefit the project. Grisell was involved in the acquisition of the south lawn at the farmstead and made contributions toward purchase of a smaller house that serves as a visitors’ center for the complex.

Grisell also is president of the Moundsville Economic Development Council, which has partnered with the historical society for preserving the former prison.

• Laker, who was nominated by Wheeling Heritage, is a retired professor of history at Wheeling Jesuit University. He joined the West Virginia Independence Hall Foundation in 2008 and has served as board president since 2012.

Laker has served on a committee that raised funds and selected the sculptor for the Francis H. Pierpont statue outside West Virginia Independence Hall and on a committee that is raising funds for the planned relocation of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument from Wheeling Park to the hall’s side lawn. He has written articles on Wheeling’s Civil War history and compiled a pictorial book tracing the history of Wheeling Jesuit University.

• Rhodes was nominated by the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society in recognition of her assistance with genealogical projects. For 17 years, she has worked in the Wheeling Room at the Ohio County Public Library, where she helps visitors conducting research on their families.

Her nominators stated, “She created a user-friendly pamphlet that takes patrons step by step through the process and has assisted people applying for the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution. Rhodes also has compiled several genealogy-related books and is currently compiling an index of Wheeling obituaries.”

• Rothenbuehler was nominated by Friends of Wheeling, an organization on whose board of directors she has served since 2015. She has worked at the Ohio County Public Library since 2013 as a reference librarian and archivist.

She co-founded and designed a collaborative community website, Archiving Wheeling, for the library and its heritage partners. She designed an Archiving West Virginia website for the West Virginia Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. She also is a member of the West Virginia Independence Hall Foundation and is redesigning its website.

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