Wooster Memorial Park grew from the vision of Paul S. Spangler, a Wooster native and Wooster High School teacher who long hoped the area would become a public park. Beginning in 1964, he donated land to the City of Wooster on the condition that it be used as a public park and named Wooster Memorial Park in memory of his family and his strong faith. His four deeds, dated January 14, 1964, May 2, 1969, and June 27, 1978, gave the city 133 acres. On November 9, 1968, the City of Wooster bought 121 acres of adjoining land from the Becker family, forming the rest of the original park area. In June 1970, the former Spangler and Becker properties, totaling 254 acres, were dedicated as Wooster Memorial Park with Spangler and Mayor Paul Tilford present. In January 2008, 71 more acres, the Strock Woods and Monitor Bank parcels, were added after purchase with Clean Ohio funds by the Killbuck Watershed Land Trust, and the city designated the park as a permanent natural area.