By Chris Mayhew
Enquirer staff writer

NEWPORT - Arthur L. Wagner raised four young children, two of whom were born legally blind, by himself after his wife, Elizabeth, died in 1956.

Mr. Wagner, a retired production worker for Hess & Eisenhardt in Cincinnati, died Tuesday at University Hospital in Cincinnati. He was 84.

"He was a man, who back in 1956, raised four children by himself, back in the day when a man didn't do that," said his son Michael Wagner of Newport.

When his wife died, his oldest son (Michael) was and his youngest child was 4.

Mr. Wagner served in the U.S. Army under Gen. George Patton in Europe during World War II, and was in five major campaigns, his son Michael said.

He entered the Army three days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he said.

After the war, Mr. Wagner went to work as a metal finisher for Edwards Manufacturing in Cincinnati. He built hearses and ambulances until the company closed in the 1970s, spending a good part of his life making automobiles, but he never drove them.

"He drove a tank during the war, but he never drove (a car)," Michael said.

Beyond walking, Mr. Wagner counted on family and friends to get him where he needed to go, Michael said.

He loved keeping his yard in impeccable shape, and planting flowers in the spring, but his children were the focal point of his life, Michael Wagner said.

"We're a very close family," he said. "He was always there if we needed anything."

He was fair, but strict, and he sent all of his children through Catholic schools, said his son Tim of Newport.

"My sister and my little brother are both legally blind, so he told us we had to take care of them," his son Tim said.

He was a quiet man, and a great father, he said.

"We came first in his mind," he said. "I give my dad all the credit in the world for raising us. I don't know if I could do it."

Mr. Wagner was a lifetime member of Lawler Hanlon V.F.W. Post No. 5662 in Newport.

Other survivors include his daughter, Barbara Sturdivant of Newport; another son, Jim Wagner of Newport; one sister, Betty Jones of Newport; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Services have been held. Muehlenkamp-Erschell Funeral Home in Newport handled arrangements. Burial was in St. Stephen Cemetery in Fort Thomas.

Memorials: Area 7 Special Olympics, P.O. Box 393, Florence, KY 41042 or Hospice of Northern Kentucky, 1403 Alexandria Pike, Fort Thomas, KY 41075.

---

E-mail cmayhew@enquirer.com