APPRECIATION: Dr. Arnold Wirtala, Germanna's founding president, passes away at 85

It is with deep regret that I inform you of the passing of Germanna’s founding president. Dr. Arnold E. Wirtala died Tuesday at home in Fredericksburg, at age 85. He served as Germanna’s president from 1969 to 1980.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete this afternoon.
As Germanna’s first president, Dr. Wirtala led the college through some of its most challenging times, keeping the institution going when low enrollment threatened its very existence. GCC opened with 400 students in 1970, and struggled to meet enrollment goals in the early years. There was talk in the state legislature of closing the college. Dr. Wirtala’s efforts helped give Germanna the chance to grow and thrive as it has today, serving a total headcount of nearly 13,000, and spreading out over an area the size of Rhode Island with campuses in Fredericksburg and Locust Grove, a tech center in Culpeper, and the potential for the opening of a Stafford center in 2009.
When Dr. Wirtala arrived at Germanna in September 1969, he says in a history of GCC, “I found only stakes marking the location of the college.”
Germanna opened its doors in 1970. He called starting the college, “an exciting adventure.”
He said building a college in a sparsely populated spot such as Locust Grove “required an act of faith and a commitment to the future. The first years were not easy. …”
He said it was always his view that Germanna: “was here to reach out to young people who otherwise could not have the opportunity for a higher education. Also, it was to give another chance to those who had failed previously. Gov. Mills Godwin on many occasions cited success stories of Germanna Community College as examples of what community colleges are about.”
Dr. Wirtala was born on May 4, 1923 in Ashtabula, Ohio. He was the son of the late Ernest and Lylli Wirtala. He graduated from Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky in 1947 with a degree in Music Education. His college education was interrupted by World War II, and he served in the U.S. Army from 1943-45 overseas with the 117th Armored Group, 3rd Army Battalion in Normandy, France; the Battle of the Bulge, Rhineland, and in Central Europe.
He married Mary Grace Land in June 1947. They both enrolled and completed work in the Master's Degree Program in Music Education at the University of Michigan. They moved to Gainesville, Fla. in August 1948, where he was employed as an instructor in the Division of Music at the University of Florida. Dr. Wirtala received his Doctor of Education in 1954 at the University of Florida, and was then promoted to Assistant Professor of Music. He taught music theory, music literature, 'cello and clarinet. He was the cellist in the Faculty String Quartet and clarinetist in the Faculty Woodwind Quintet. He was the Associate Conductor of the University Symphony. He also served as the choir director at University United Methodist Church in Gainesville from 1957-1969.
Dr. Wirtala became the Assistant Dean of Men in 1962 at the University of Florida. He then served as the Dean of Academic Affairs at Central Florida Community College in Ocala from 1965-1968. He returned to the University of Florida as the Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Education from 1968-69.
After leaving Germanna, Dr. Wirtala and his wife Mary returned to Gainesville, Fla. to enjoy their retirement. In additional to traveling throughout Europe and the United Kingdom many times, Dr. Wirtala also served as the President of the Foundation of Music as well as the President of the Retired Faculty of the University of Florida, as well as remaining active in the University United Methodist Church.
He was preceded in death by his wife. He is survived by his daughter Cathy Keathley of Gainesville, Fla., his son and daughter-in-law Joe and Kathy Wirtala of Fredericksburg, and his five grandchildren-- Ben and Dan Keathley of Gainesville, and Sara, Tim and Amy Wirtala of Fredericksburg.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Germanna Community College Education Foundation, Inc., or the University of Florida College of Education Support Fund.
As the first president of Germanna Community College, Dr. Wirtala helped to create the foundation for the college that serves the region today. He will be deeply missed.
--David