- Date Of Birth: April 23, 1915
- Date Of Death: February 7, 2016
- State: Texas
April 23, 1915 – February 7, 2016
Adolph Theodore Wendler (Adie, or A.T. to his friends and family) was born in Boerne in a house on Main Street on April 23, 1915 and passed away on February 7, 2016. He had celebrated his 100th birthday last year with many family and friends. His mother was Wally Toepperwein and his father was Adolph Wendler. As a boy, Adie loved baseball and would play in the dirt streets of Boerne with his friends and cousins. The boys would also spend many hours playing and fishing in the Cibolo Creek. Adie and his friend, Vernon Adler, were bat boys for a local baseball team of adults called the Boerne White Sox. Later, Adie would help build the grandstands for the original Bower Field. His love of baseball was a defining vein, running the length of his entire life. During his senior year of high school in Boerne, Adie’s father decided to move the family from town out the country to live on their ranch. It is on this same property that Adie lived the rest of his life, farming, ranching, and running a successful taxidermy business. In high school, Adie played football and baseball. He graduated in 1933. He was the first of what will be four generations to graduate from Boerne High School. From 1935 to the late 1980’s, Adie was Chairman of the Kendall County Fair taxidermy exhibit. He loved to hunt in the Hill Country and later on, in the Kaibab forest of Arizona. Four of his trophies are recognized by the Burkett Trophy Game Records of the World. On February 8, 1957, Adie married Fran Elkins, who had two children, Susan and Tom. They were one day shy of their 59th anniversary. A.T. was a member of the Kendall County Fair Association, the Herman Sons, the Shooting Club, and the First Families of Kendall County. He always believed in the Golden Rule. He is survived by his wife, Fran, his daughter, Susan Adamek, and her husband, David, and their four children, Chris Adamek, Grace Villafone, Amy Conroy, and Faith Agold, and by his son, Tom Elkins, and his wife, Sandie, and their two children, Lesli Baltz and Grant Elkins. He is also survived by fourteen great-grandchildren. We will all miss our beloved “Opa”.
