Dorothy Wilken, the first woman mayor in Boca Raton as well as the first woman to serve as clerk of court in Palm Beach County, died on June 22 at 90 years old.
Wilken was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Boca Raton in 1965 to work at Florida Atlantic University. She was elected mayor of Boca Raton in 1976. According to the Boca Raton Historical Society, “Ms. Wilken dealt with such issues as growth management for the city, establishment of park impact fees, and the purchase of South Inlet Beach. Wilken was one of the originators of the Citizens for Reasonable Growth, which became a strong support base for her.”
In a 1987 interview with the Sun Sentinel, Wilken said she was called “Four-to-one Dorothy” for often being the odd one out during votes at the dais. “I’m a Dorothy. I’m short and round and they’re not. I’m a brown-eyed person in a blue-eyed world,” she said.
She lost the next two elections, but she returned to the political scene in 1982 when she won a spot on the Palm Beach County Commission. In 1992, she was the first woman elected as the clerk of court of Palm Beach County; she retired in 2003. According to a tribute by the office, “During her tenure as Clerk, she led the charge to bring the office into the modern era. The office received the prestigious Governor’s Sterling Award, which recognizes the state’s best-managed organizations among both private businesses and the public sector.”
Mike Caruso, clerk of the circuit court and comptroller, said, “Dorothy Wilken was a true force in Palm Beach County, setting a high standard for transparency and accountability in every office she held.”
Wilken is survived by four daughters and 15 grandchildren.
