Dorothy Wilken

Dorothy H. Wilken (born 1936) is an American politician and former clerk of courts. Wilken was a major proponent for the annexation of the community of University Park into the larger city of Boca Raton, Florida, during the early 1970s. She later served as the first female Mayor of Boca Raton and a Palm Beach County commissioner.^[1][2][3]

Wilken was born in Annville, Pennsylvania.^[1] In 1965, She moved to Boca Raton, Florida, to take a job with Florida Atlantic University.^[1] She graduated from Emma Willard School, Troy NY and George Washington University Columbian College in Washington, DC and earned her MPA at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton FL.

Wilken, a resident of the former town of University Park, Florida, during the early 1970s, was a strong proponent for the annexation of the smaller town into the city of Boca Raton.^[2][3] Residents of Boca Raton and University Park approved the merger in a referendum held on July 27, 1971.^[2][3]

Wilken only the second woman to serve of the Boca Raton city council.^[1] Boca Raton city meeting minutes and the Boca Raton Historical Society indicate that another woman, Floy Mitchell, had previously served briefly on the council.^[1]

In March 1976, the Boca Raton city council elected Wilken as the city's mayor. She was the first woman to serve as Mayor of Boca Raton.^[1] She served as Mayor from March 1976 to February 1977, and again, briefly, during April 1977 following the resignation of Mayor Dick Houpana, who resigned just one month into his second term.^[1][4] The city established park impact fees and purchased the South Inlet Beach during Wilken's tenure.^[1] She also founded the Citizens for Reasonable Growth.^[1]

Dorothy Wilken was later elected as a Palm Beach County commissioner, first elected in 1982, and a clerk of courts^[2][3] in 1992, retiring in 2005.

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