SANDUSKY — Every time you step off a curb in Sandusky or roll a stroller smoothly through a downtown crosswalk, you are walking on the quiet legacy of Kelly Dillery.
Dillery died Sunday. To many who didn’t grow up following local police logs or federal appellate dockets in the late 1990s and early 2000s, her name might not immediately ring a bell. But to Sandusky City Hall, the Sandusky Police Department, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Kelly Dillery was the unstoppable force that dragged a reluctant municipal government into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Her story is a masterclass in local institutional absurdity—a reminder of what it actually takes for a single citizen to force a city to do the right thing.
The crime of navigating Perkins Avenue
Kelly Dillery suffered from Friedreich’s ataxia, a progressive neurological disorder that required her to use a motorized wheelchair to navigate her hometown.
