A woman famous for her collection of hats is also remembered for many more important things as well. There was scarcely a worthwhile local charity she failed to champion.
The Carroll County Hospital, now the Carroll Hospital Center, stands as her greatest
legacy. After World War I, local citizens were anxious to build a hospital as a memorial
to the men who had died in that war, but the idea was pushed aside until it caught hold
in June 1956. Gladys became chairman of a fund-raising group. She organized door-to door
solicitations, ultimately raising three times her announced goal of $60,000. A
hospital was finally realized in 1961, and Gladys Wimert‟s name was memorialized in
its cardiac clinic after her death.
During the 1940s when polio was ravaging young people, Gladys began as director of
the local March of Dimes and continued to support the fight against that disease until
her death. She threw her considerable influence behind organizations such as the
V.F.W., the Girl Scouts, the Red Cross during World War II, the U.S.O., and others
too numerous to mention. She was the recipient of nearly every award her community
had to offer. But getting back to the hats. If she needed relaxation, Gladys would go
out and buy a new one. For every special occasion in her life, she would bring home another. “I don’t smoke, and drink doesn’t interest me, so I’ve got to do something – so I buy a hat.”
She told a funny story on herself involving a hat. When she was to participate in a charity circus in
Westminster and ride an elephant named “Big Burma,” her husband refused to allow
her to wear an appropriate costume, so she bought an elaborate white hat with a big
feather at the side, donned a black satin and crepe dress, pulled on white gloves, and
slung a rope of pearls around her neck, then climbed aboard “Big Burma” - all for a
good cause. Gladys may have been wearing part of that outfit in this photograph. She
is seen here standing with 88-year-old Mary Shellman and World War I veteran J.
Albert Mitten during the 1937 Memorial Day celebration held in Westminster Cemetery that also commemorated Carroll County’s centennial. Gladys Wimert must
have been one of Westminster’s most enjoyable and colorful characters.
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