Thomas Wenfield Wheeler
For the past few years Thomas Wenfield Wheeler has said he wasn't ready for the "bus" to come and get him. Since May of 2012 when he was injured in a fall and became paralyzed from the neck down the "bus" has been out front honking for him. He finally got on the Angels bus on Oct. 2, 2013 at 9:10 p.m. when, at the age of 87, he passed away surrounded by those that loved him at Hamilton County Memorial Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in his home town of McLeansboro, Illinois.
Tom was born in McLeansboro on March 26, 1926 to the late Leonard "Bunt" Wheeler and Uldine Vaughn Wheeler. The rough oil field worker "ran off with the preacher's daughter" and married the love of his life Eleanor Kathleen Greer in Jackson, Missouri on May 1, 1943. Tom had been lost without her since her death on Nov. 18, 2004.
Tom is survived by his sons- Thomas D. and Lynda of Buckner, Ill., Stephen Winfield and Elizabeth of Du Quoin, Ill., Wendell Lee and Kim of Carbondale, Ill. and Scott and Mary Miller of Rocky Mt., N.C.; grandchildren Dhana Dee Wheeler of Christopher, Ill., Thomas Jon (TJ) and Deanna Wheeler of Tolono, Ill. , Brandi Wheeler of Raleigh, N.C., Neil and Niki Wheeler of Raleigh, N.C., Connor Wheeler of Warrensberg, Mo., Macie Wheeler of St. Louis, Mo., Shelby Wheeler of Du Quoin, Ill., Hylan Wheeler of Rocky Mt., N.C. and great grandchildren- Hunter Thomas Wheeler of Christopher, Ill., John Thomas (JT) Wheeler, Myla, Dylan and Rysa Stacy all of Tolono Ill. and Colton Wheeler of Raleigh, N.C.
Tom lost a son Daniel Joseph (wife Donna Wheeler) on Jan. 11, 2012 in Rocky Mt. N.C.
Tom lied about his age and quit school to serve his country during World War II. He was sent to St. Louis and then shipped to New York for naval yard boot camp. He then was chosen to attend engineering school where he stayed until he graduated as a Marine engineer. He was then shipped out on the USS Davy Crocket which patrolled the South Pacific. It was during this time that the South Pacific encountered one of the worst typhoons in history.
Tom didn't stay home long as he was called back into the Navy during the Korean War due to his experience in the engine room. While serving at Fort Huemia, California he also served as the provost's Marshall and served time in Siapan and Guam.
After a stay in LaPorte, Indiana working for the Labors' Union under his late sister Phyllis's husband, Sylvester Jaske, he returned to his roots north of the tracks in McLeansboro. There he became an independent contractor and his bright yellow trucks with Tom Wheeler and Sons House movers became familiar to Hamilton county residents. He moved many homes throughout southern Illinois, including many in Benton preparing for interstate 57. He once moved 137 homes out of an army facility in Northern Indiana.
A heart attack in McLeansboro in 1964 changed his occupation as he accepted a job with SIU in the engineering department at Camp Breckinridge Job Corps in Morganfield , Kentucky which later led to the family moving to Johnston City when he worked on campus at SIU in Carbondale.
His ability to handle men and knowledge of machines put his family on a tour of the states, starting at Blue Bell in Du Quoin, Illinois, to Morgan Colorado Beef in Fort Morgan, Colorado to Hygrade Beef in Seattle Washington clear across the state to Lundy's in Clinton, North Carolina. In 1989 he retired and moved back to southern Illinois, settling in Benton.
Tom was better known as the "Big Bear" in his later days as a "golfer." In fact, his family has hosted a golf tournament for the past 17 years in his honor called Wheeler's Big Bear Golf Classic. This had always been one of his favorite days to visit and meet teachers, coaches, athletes and friends of his family.
Not only a great husband, father, grandfather and uncle, he was one who loved to entertain and tell stories, especially those of his days of growing up in McLeansboro. He also loved watching his sons, grandkids and great grandchildren compete in athletics in high school, college and later in the coaching profession
His proudest moment in the eyes of his family was when he accepted the Lord into his life in his green house in his backyard in Benton with the help of Brother Billy Duncan. He was later baptized on Nov. 3, 2002 by Brother Duncan in the First Baptist Church of Mcleansboro, the church where his father-in-law, Rev. Dewey Greer, once preached.
Services will be at 11:00, Oct. 8, 2013 in the First Baptist Church in McLeansboro. Visitation will be Oct. 7, 2013 at First Baptist Church in Mcleansboro from 5 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment will in the IOOF Cemetery in McLeansboro.