Friends mourn Dothan historian

Dothan lost a part of its history Monday.

Wendell Stepp, considered by many to be Dothan’s most respected historian, passed away Monday morning at age 84.

Stepp served as the mayor’s appointed chair of the Historic Preservation Commission and was one of the primary supporters of the movement to revitalize downtown Dothan, serving as part of the Downtown Group and heading several projects since his move to Dothan in 1966.

According to those who knew him, Stepp had a love affair with the city that carried through his years.

“He literally fell in love with this community when he moved here,” said Joe Donofro, owner of Donofro and Associates Architects.

Larry Register met Stepp before he even moved to Dothan.

“I first met Wendell in 1966, when I was the economic developer with the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce,” Register said. “I went to Akron, Ohio, where the Ansell manufacturing plant was located. Wendell was the plant manager for that manufacturing plant. Mr. Stepp came down here and was the plant manager for an extended period of time. He was always active in the community, but then he became especially diligent in doing several things for Dothan.”

Among those things was spearheading the city’s mural program.

“He was a champion for our beautiful mural program,” said Cathy Cole, executive director of the Downtown Group. “He was instrumental in that mural program. Until recently, he was always downtown doing business for the mural program.”

Register remembers Stepp’s dedication to the program.

“He and I and a good number of others worked on commissioning the mural project in Dothan,” Register said. “We started around 1993, and he was chairman for most of the years. He was the inspiration for all of us to keep going.”

But most agree Stepp’s biggest contribution to the city was preserving its history.

Along with his daughter, Pamela, he created a book chronicling Dothan’s history, titled “Dothan: A Pictorial History,” in 1984. According to his fellow historians, the book was meticulously researched and generated renewed interest in preserving the city’s historical areas.

“That effort that he put into the history book reinvigorated me to get inviolved in salvaging what we had left and getting involved in core redevelopment,” Donofro said.

His dedication to history didn’t stop with the book.

“Wendell did a tremendous job studying the history of Dothan and telling people about it, both in print and in person,” said former Dothan Mayor James Grant, who knew Stepp for 25 years. “He’ll be remembered because of his dedication to the history of Dothan and his attitude of preserving the history of Dothan.”

Al Smith is a former Houston County Veterans Affairs officer, and he worked with Stepp for more than 20 years on various veterans projects.

“He was a tremendous person, a great person,” Smith said. “He cared about people, and he certainly cared a lot about his community. He was especially active in our veterans affairs. He was always the first to go to bat for something, and it was never for the betterment of Wendell Stepp, it was for the betterment of Dothan. We will miss him, (and) it will be hard to replace him.”

Several people referred to him as a “champion.”

“He was a champion for downtown Dothan. He was such an ambassador and put us on the map in so many ways,” Cole said.

Donofro echoed those sentiments.

“He was a real champion for this community, and he was a neat guy to know,” Donofro said. “We were definitely blessed to have him as part of our Dothan family.”

Register said he will remember Stepp’s personality more than anything.

“I suppose there are two good things to be said about a person. One is that person is a good father, the other is he is a good person. Wendell was both of those,” Register said. “He was an inspiration to us all.”