A head for international business and a heart for Cedarburg | Ozaukee Co. News

CEDARBURG — Melinda Wirth sometimes wondered while growing up in Cedarburg if her dad was a secret spy. There was something curious about the number of different currencies he carried in his wallet. And his passports showed frequent travel across the globe.

But the truth about Gustav “Sandy” Wirth was much less dramatic, though possibly just as interesting.

“What if I’m in Italy, and I’d have to go to Germany?” is how Sandy Wirth explained the Deutsche Marks, the liras and the yens.

Wirth, a visionary and community leader, died Dec. 1 at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife, Doreen, daughters, Melinda and Heidi, two grandchildren and many, many relatives and friends.

Born into one of the earliest families to settle in Cedarburg, Wirth was equal parts Cedarburg’s most ardent champion, and international businessman. He was consumed with technology years ahead of the rest of the world, but refused to leave his small town to go live elsewhere and make a bigger impact.

He thought Cedarburg was “the best thing of all,” his wife said.

“He was so ahead of his time,” Melinda Wirth said. “That’s why I was like, ‘get out of here. Go play with the billionaires.’” Melinda and her sister, Heidi, laugh about the rotary telephone their dad had in the car in the early 1980s.

“A rotary phone in his car!” Heidi Wirth said.

Wirth grew up working in the Wirth’s Department Store, which was built in 1870 in what is now the Real Health & Fitness building. Wirth’s was thought to be the largest such store in the county — the Target of its time, one of his daughters said.

The department store sold everything needed for life in the first half of the 1900s, including groceries, fabric, shoes, manure spreaders and John Deere tractors.

Young Gus Wirth, nicknamed Sandy because of the color of his hair, would accompany his mother to state fairs to demonstrate how their sewing machines worked.

Sandy Wirth had a lot of passions, but near the top was amateur or “ham” radio. It allowed him to talk to people locally or across the world.

Wirth started the first ham radio club at Cedarburg High School. It seemed the whole class would stop by his house to get a look at the equipment.

At age 16, he started a mail order amateur radio equipment company with a good friend, according to a profile on Wirth in the Wisconsin Counties Association Magazine.

Heidi Wirth remembers her dad refused to buy her a car in high school until she got her ham radio license.

Melinda Wirth didn’t fight it. She also, like her dad, got her pilot’s license. She and her dad would talk to other ham radio operators in his car on the way to school. She still remembers her operator’s number.

By the time Sandy Wirth was in his mid-20s, he had started his first business in an office on the south side of town. He met his future wife, Doreen, when he ran an ad for a secretary, with the requirement that they knew how to use an IBM Selectric typewriter. Doreen did not know how to use the Selectric, but told Wirth she did. She got the job, and later the man.

Sandy Wirth would go on to start several technology-based companies. One of the cornerstone businesses was Echo Communications Inc., which he founded in his bedroom in 1963 and became one of the world’s largest suppliers of communications equipment. At the height of the business, it employed over 1,800 people and was the biggest distributor in the United States of CB radios, according to the WCA Magazine article. The company had offices in the U.S., Sweden, Germany, Italy and Australia, and a production facility in Japan — which might explain all of the currencies in his wallet. Wirth’s Dorminhei Corp., formerly Draco Labs, Inc., engineered and built the first microprocessor-controlled consumer product.

At home, Wirth used his powers for good, in Cedarburg and Ozaukee County as a whole. His work on the Ozaukee County Board was of particular interest to him. Wirth was a supervisor from 1988 to 2004 and from 2006 to 2021. He served two years as chairman, two as vice chairman and 10 as second vice chairman.

Wirth saved the county thousands of dollars by upgrading the computer technology, pushed to install countywide two-way radio trunking system for over 2,700 radios used by the county and all local governments, installed the countywide telephone system with direct inward dialing, the interactive countywide website and countywide email for local governments, as well as spearheading many other initiatives, according to his County Board profile.

Wirth was deeply involved with the Wisconsin Counties Association, which lobbies on behalf of the state’s 72 counties. He was elected second vice president and served as president from September 2012 to September 2013. When he took over the presidency of WCA, he laid out his goals for the next 12 months, according to the WCA Magazine article.

“Above the specifics of wanting to streamline some services, keep the CAP Team going, creating a special task force on frack sand mining, and increasing communications with our members, what I really hope to accomplish is to be extremely responsive to our members,” Wirth said.

He said he planned to “lead by example and give the membership what they want before they know they want it.”

Wisconsin Counties Association President & CEO Mark D. O’Connell said that Wirth was a true public servant in every sense of the word.

“His involvement in not only Ozaukee County but also all of Wisconsin was impactful and meaningful,” O’Connell said. “Serving in leadership roles with the Wisconsin Counties Association, including as president in 2012, and being a member of several of our boards such as the WCA Group Health Trust and the Wisconsin County Mutual Insurance Corporation, he always brought to the table deep knowledge, valuable perspective, and a sense of humor that was always appreciated. He will be greatly missed.”

Later in life, much of Wirth’s business dealings were in real estate. He owned the Echo Plaza, where Jim’s Grille was located. He was a frequent customer of Jim’s Grille. Doreen Wirth said sometimes the cook would call her to tell her what her husband ate, so she didn’t make it for dinner.

Wirth also owned the business that houses Bella Lei Salon, Spa & Boutique in Cedarburg. Salon owner Eric Stelter said Wirth was many things to his family — a mentor to him and his peers and a grandpa to his children.

Wirth was also “incredibly generous,” Stelter said.

He might have been known for his savvy business negotiations, but Wirth never forgot those who worked for him “He cared about everybody,” Doreen Wirth said.

When he owned a company, he would stop by during the third shift and walk to the back just to say hi to everybody, Heidi Wirth said.

“Just to let them know that he took an interest in their job,” she said.