Dean Wilhelm, Hotel Manager, 62

[DGH]

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/09/AR2008080901887_3.html

Dean Wilhelm Hotel Manager

Dean Wilhelm, 62, who for 25 years was the general manager of the 529-
room Holiday Inn Capitol, the seventh-largest U.S. property in the
hotel's chain, died of cancer August 6 [2008] at the Washington Home
hospice. He lived in Alexandria [Virginia].

Mr. Wilhelm worked in the hotel industry for nearly 40 years, starting
as a bellman and working his way up to the position of market manager
for Donohoe Hospitality Services, a job he started June 1, overseeing
three full-service hotels, including the Holiday Inn he used to
manage.

Often quoted in the press, usually because he was one of the longest-
serving hotel managers in the city, he found himself the subject of a
Washington Post article in February 2003 when the worst winter storm
in six years shut down the city.

With 400 guests and only 50 employees on hand for a long, snowbound
weekend, Mr. Wilhelm instituted emergency rules: No room service,
limited room cleaning until a room was vacated, and buffets at
breakfast, lunch and dinner.

When 700 people showed up for dinner Sunday night rather than the
usual 150, Mr. Wilhelm rolled up his sleeves and helped wash the
dishes.

He was recognized by Holiday Inn Worldwide in 2007 as "best of the
best" and named general manager of the year by the Hotel Association
of Washington. He was on the board of that association for 20 years
and was a past president.

Born in Norwalk, Ohio, he graduated from the University of Dayton
[Ohio] and joined the hotel business. He worked for Holiday Inn in
Miami Beach [Florida], Cocoa Beach, Florida, and Columbus, Ohio,
before moving to the Washington [DC] area.

He was a member of the Washington [DC] Convention and Tourism Corp.'s
convention committee, and he advocated the 1999 formation of the
charter school Hospitality High School. He and his staff mentored 20
students and provided jobs for eight students.

Mr. Wilhelm was the first hotel manager to commit to providing food to
the D.C. Central Kitchen, an organization that feeds the homeless, and
he worked with the Marriott Foundation's Bridges program, hiring 11
youths with disabilities and providing job readiness workshops for
many others.

Survivors include a brother and two sisters.

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Patricia Sullivan