Will Minster Obituary, Death – A strong champion for Wilmington who was also the fourth-generation proprietor of a jewelry company in Newark has passed away. The store was located in Wilmington. Will Minster and his family have operated Minster’s Jewelers in Newark for the past 123 years. They also hold shops in Elkton, Dover, and Wilmington. Will Minster went on to leadership responsibilities that helped establish downtown business in Wilmington, which is Delaware’s largest city.
After selling the Wilmington store in 2010, Minster worked as the Director of Business Development for Main Street Wilmington and continued his service with Downtown Visions. Minster was raised in the space above the Elkton store that his family had operated for the previous 76 years. At the time of its closing, the Elkton location was the oldest locally-owned business in Cecil County.
He stated, “I’ve kind of gotten where I am, I’ve been doing this for the past 40 years of my life, and it’s time to let go and to just move on.” I have made my peace with it. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware stated the following in response to the passing of Minster: When I found out that Will Minster had passed away, it caused me a great deal of sadness. Will was one of a kind. He was a pillar of the Wilmington community and a champion for any and all entrepreneurial endeavors.
He had a deep affection for this town, and he had faith in its residents. He had a vision of what the downtown area could become long before it became the resounding commercial and residential success it is today. I got the opportunity to meet his mother Marilyn at her jewelry store site in Newark, which has been a family-owned icon for the past 123 years. His family has been firmly established in this area for many generations, and those roots run deep. They were members of a beautiful family that was focused on running their own small businesses and saw the potential that hard effort had to improve their town.