Wauseon builder grew up on farm

9/15/2006

WAUSEON - Melvin George "Bub" Wyse, longtime owner-operator of Wyse Construction, died of pneumonia yesterday in Swan Creek Retirement Center, Toledo. He was 89.

Mr. Wyse operated Wyse Construction in Wauseon for 30 years, from its inception in 1948 until he retired in 1978, when the firm was sold.

The company primarily built homes and buildings for small businesses, including a Wauseon bank.

"Because of the quality of his work, people sought him out to build their houses. And he did all the cost estimates himself, even though he did not complete high school," his daughter, Karen L. Fraker, said.

"He was a very friendly person [who] everybody loved. When he drove down Main Street in Wauseon, his arm got tired from waving to everyone he knew," she said.

Mr. Wyse grew up on the family farm in Tedrow, just north of Wauseon, helping raise corn and wheat and taking care of farm animals.

He attended Wauseon High School through 11th grade, quitting in the fall of his 12th year because he wanted to go hunting rabbits and pheasants, his daughter said.

He later was a laborer at a natural-gas pipeline construction site near Detroit for a time before marrying Marian L. Batdorf in 1941. They then settled on a farm just southeast of Wauseon, which they rented until 1946, when they bought an 80-acre farm nearby for his family members to farm corn, wheat, beans, oats, and raise livestock. The couple lived there ever since.

Mr. Wyse was a member of Zion United Methodist Church near Wauseon and the Wauseon Elks Lodge.

Surviving are his wife of 65 years, Marian; daughters, Karen L. Fraker and Ann E. Huner; four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be after 3 p.m. today in the Edgar-Grisier Funeral Home, Wauseon. Services will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow in Zion United Methodist Church. The family suggests tributes to the church.