May Wing and Charles Wing Standing in Snow on the Village Green

This black-and-white photograph shows May Alice Wing and her father, Charles Dignan Wing, standing in snow on the northwest quadrant of the Village Green. The photograph might have been taken on or around Christmas Day, 1925. Both are dressed in winter overcoats and have hats on; May, who is about four years old in the picture, is wearing gloves and laughing with her eyes closed. Charles, whose right leg was amputated below the knee as a result of injuries sustained in World War I, stands with crutches. Visible in the background is a portion of the original Worthington Presbyterian Church; during the construction of a new church in 1926, this building was moved to the back of the new building.

May Alice Wing Caldwell was born in Worthington in 1921 to Charles and Harriet Putman Wing, both U.S. Army veterans of World War I. Harriet was an Army Nurse at Camp Sherman, Ohio and Charles was in Company I, 4th Infantry, 3rd Division, U.S. Army. The family lived at 699 High Street, then moved to a farm on Smoky Row Road after a doctor advised Charles, who had suffered a chlorine gas attack during the war, to move out of coal-heated Worthington to where the air was cleaner. Charles and Harriet bought the home at 621 Morning Street in 1933, and it remained their home until Charles' death.

May's early years centered in Worthington, where she played organ for St. John's Episcopal Church. She graduated from Worthington High School in 1939, and attended The Ohio State University starting her junior year of high school, with the goal of becoming a neurosurgeon. At OSU, she met her husband, Elmer Caldwell. From January 1944 through January 1946, while Elmer served in World War II, she lived with her parents and infant son, and Elmer joined them when he returned from the war in November, 1945. For two years following the war, she and Elmer lived near The Ohio State University and ran the Village Restaurant in Columbus, until Elmer was recalled for active duty in 1948, when May again moved in with her parents and her sons Harold and Curtis. From May 1951 to March 1952, May and her sons lived at 51 Selby Boulevard in Worthington, while Elmer served in the Korean War. After the war, she and her children followed Elmer to his deployments around the world, including Japan, Germany and Hawaii. She was known for her generosity and interest in connecting with other cultures; her obituary states, "May took seriously her role to represent America and to bridge cultures by learning languages, studying local culture and history, and making friends off-post."

Charles Dignan Wing was severely wounded in July, 1918, in the Battle of Aisne, Champagne-Marne, as a private in the American Expeditionary Force. He spent much of the next few years in and out of hospitals, and his leg was amputated following his return to the United States. He was the recipient of a Purple Heart medal. Following his death in 1963, Stanley Ulrich Robinson, Jr. wrote a tribute that appeared in the November 7, 1963 "Worthington News," recalling an exchange he'd had when Charles was his Boy Scout leader in the 1920s: "...several of the scouts, including myself, in typical thoughtless boyhood manner, asked Mr. Wing to tell us the episode of his World War I experience that had resulted in the loss of his leg. We had, from books and movies, acquired a glamorous picture of the war. His factual answer to our presumptuous questioning has always stuck with me. 'We were crossing a river at night in small boats, and they were shooting at us from the other side. I got hit in the leg.' That was the end of the story. No glamor. No other details. Just a small picture of actual war. From that time on, I lost my childhood attraction to the excitement of war. I realized that a better method of settling disputes had to be found."

Charles Wing would go on to hold numerous official positions in Worthington over the course of 37 years--"an unparalleled career of service to the community," according to the Worthington News. Wing first became involved in civic affairs in 1925, when he was hired as the assistant village clerk. At various times during the following years he served as acting city manager, acting safety director, acting service director, acting health director, city clerk, chief deputy clerk, mayor’s clerk, and building inspector’s clerk. In 1942 Wing was named air raid warden for Sharon Township.