Today, our office remembers former Palm Beach County Clerk Dorothy Wilken, who passed away Monday at the age of 90. She is survived by four daughters and 15 grandchildren.

 

Clerk Wilken was the first woman elected as Clerk of Court in Palm Beach County in 1992. She served as Clerk for 12 years before announcing in 2003 that she would not seek re-election.

 

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.

 

“Dorothy Wilken was a true force in Palm Beach County, setting a high standard for transparency and accountability in every office she held," Clerk Mike Caruso said. "During her tenure as Clerk from 1992 to 2004, she brought our Clerk’s office into the modern era, upgrading technology and pushing to get our paper records online. We are keeping her family and friends in our thoughts and remembering her significant impact on our community.”

 

Clerk Wilken was born in Pennsylvania in 1936 and moved to Boca Raton in 1965 to work at Florida Atlantic University. In addition to being the first woman elected as Clerk, she was the first woman to serve as mayor of Boca Raton, being elected in 1976, and served for six years on the Board of County Commissioners for District 4.

 

While in office at the city and county levels, Wilken advocated for strong growth management and environmental preservation. She was one of the originators of the Citizens for Reasonable Growth. Her leadership with the Crime Prevention Council spearheaded coordination of multiple policing agencies in Palm Beach County.