Services Saturday for man who put AF on the map

A legend in the history of Ahwatukee Foothills will be laid to rest Saturday.

Services for Henry "Hank" Wynberg will be held at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 4 at Green Acres Mortuary, 401. N. Hayden Road in Scottsdale. Visitations will take place from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday at Green Acres.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, friends and acquaintances make donations to the Phoenix Christian School K-8, 2425 N. 26th St., Phoenix, 85008, or Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E. Flower St, Phoenix, 85014.

Wynberg died quietly at age 92 on Sept. 23 after a long battle with cancer. His wife of 67 years, Millie, died in 2007.

The couple are best known for convincing skeptical Hallmark executives that the tiny community of Ahwatukee could support a store, which in 1976 opened as Millie's Hallmark, at 5027 E. Elliot Road.

It was one of the first businesses in what was then a tiny retirement community of fewer than 2,000 people. The business put Ahwatukee on the map and it eventually became one of the company's top 200 stores in the nation.

The Wynbergs retired in Arizona after full careers in Chicago, where Hank was a business executive and Millie was a school teacher.

Along with managing the store, Hank was a founder of the Ahwatukee Foothills Kiwanis Club, where he was an active member for 25 years.

"Hank is one of my heroes, and he really was," said John McComish, former president of the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce and current state representative. "His life epitomized what you would want your life to be. He was a good businessman, a good family man and he served his community."