WENHAM, FREDERICK L. (21 Dec. 1916-22 Sept. 1965) built one of the region's largest trucking firms and sponsored one of the city's most successful amateur baseball teams. He was born in Willoughby, O., the son of Percival and Catherine Burmeister Wenham. After attending Cleveland College (see CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIV.), he went to work for his father's Willoughby Express Co., becoming president upon the elder Wenham's death in 1940. In 1942 he reorganized the company as Wenham, Inc., and moved it to Cleveland. He then purchased the Great Lakes Motor Dispatch Co., which was reorganized in 1948 as Wenham Transportation, Inc. When the terminal serving both companies was displaced by the INNERBELT FREEWAY, Wenham moved them into a new trucking terminal he built on E. 79th St. By the time of his death he was operating 460 tractor-trailer rigs over an 8-state area. For 22 years he had sponsored a Class A baseball team, Wenham Truckers, which won several championships. He also sponsored Little League and Pony League teams in several cities and was a member of the Cleveland Baseball Federation. In addition to his trucking companies, he was also president of the Wenham Supply Co., the Ridler Tank and Welding Corp., and the Contract Carrier Corp. Wenham had married the former Lois Solomon of Cleveland in 1946 and was survived by her and 4 sons: Frederick L. III, Jeffrey, Christopher, and Timothy. He died at his home in SHAKER HTS.
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