Thomas Wieneke and his dog, Belle.
Submitted photo
GREENFIELD — A Greenfield woman has made another $25,000 donation to the city for animal management services in memory of her late son, who had a lifelong love of animals.
It’s the second donation of that amount in as many years from Katherine Hartwell commemorating her son, Thomas Wieneke, a Greenfield native who died in Florida in August 2020.
Hartwell told the Daily Reporter in an email that her son developed a passion for fishing growing up in the Greenfield Conservation Club. That and his aversion to cold weather led him to Tallahassee, Florida, where he lived for 40 years.
Wieneke owned a car business south of Tallahassee and provided transportation for the local animal shelter — the Franklin County Humane Society — so representatives could pick up rescues from neighboring counties that didn’t have shelters. A $25,000 donation to the Franklin County Humane Society was also made in Wieneke’s memory last year.
Wieneke died after a heart attack at age 57.
“Deciding how to best honor his memory was easy; his deep love and affection for his pets over the years was widely known,” Hartwell said, adding his most recent pet was a grey Labrador named Belle. “If you saw Tom, you saw Belle, riding in the car, boat or golf cart.”
Hartwell also thanked the employees and volunteers that make Greenfield-Hancock Animal Management successful.
Amanda Dehoney, superintendent of the facility, is thankful as well.
“We’re being recognized, and people know we’re out here and trying to help the community and animals,” she said. “We don’t get that kind of recognition a lot. It touches all of us, and we just can’t believe someone would want to help us in that way.”
Dehoney said large donations are often used for expenses outside of animal management’s budget, including big medical costs like surgeries and treating illnesses.
She imagines much of the most recent donation will go toward the new animal shelter going in at 740 S. Franklin St. just south of the county’s 911 center. It will have the capacity to house many more animals, with 12,900 square feet and a horse barn. The facility is now anticipated to be completed in August.
Dehoney added she looks forward to determining how to recognize the contributions in memory of Wieneke at the new shelter.
A resolution Greenfield City Council passed last week accepting the latest donation states a plaque will be erected acknowledging the contributions.
Greenfield Mayor Chuck Fewell also indicated the latest donation will go toward the new shelter, potentially toward something the project lacked enough funds for initially but would now be able to take on.
“I just am amazed at the feelings and the generosity that comes out of the love for these animals,” Fewell said. “And that’s why we’re building this place, and why we have it. … It makes it really neat to be able to talk about a person like Thomas, and we really appreciate what they’ve done for us.”
