GALION – A Galion native has been hired to take over the helm of the Galion Community Center-YMCA beginning in January.

Andee Wildenthaler, 50, currently the Y’s director of operations, will officially become executive director on January 1, succeeding longtime CEO Terry Gribble, who is retiring at the end of the year.

“I am extremely excited and definitely looking forward to January and continuing all the great work we do in the community,” Wildenthaler said. “I am extremely grateful and thankful to the board for selecting me. A female CEO is pretty exciting.”

Wildenthaler, a 1990 Galion High School graduate, is poised to earn a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University next May. Because of her experience, she was a “natural fit” for the CEO role, board president Susan Vander Maas said on the organization’s Facebook page.

Wildenthaler started at the Galion Y in January 2017 as member engagement specialist, a part-time position. She was promoted to director of operations in 2019, responsible for overseeing the childcare program as well as operations at both Heise pool and splash park.

Since then, she has hired, and scheduled staff for aquatics activities and fitness classes developed new programs and put together the budgets for various departments. She has also managed the Y’s annual sustaining campaign and assisted with special events.

“She has certainly proved her skill level over the years and has worked extremely hard,” said Gribble, who is capping off a 33-year career at the Gill Avenue facility. “The board decided that she checked all the boxes that were necessary and felt confident in her taking on the position.”

Prior to joining the YMCA, Wildenthaler was the director of the Galion Historical Society, now the Galion History Center, for a year. She was also a familiar face at the Galion Public Library, where she served as assistant children’s librarian from 2001 to 2014.

Wildenthaler said she fell in love with the Y from the get-go and everything it means for members and the Galion community. But she admitted that assuming the CEO role is no easy task. “I have extremely difficult shoes to fill. I’m well aware of that.”

To meet national YMCA requirements, she is already taking a series of training classes to prepare her for the job and will continue with the leadership level next, she said.

Wildenthaler has three daughters, Maddie, Callie, and Kate.