John Wayne Wheeler (1926-2008)

WHEELER, CARLSON, DAHL, FRITSCH, MCLAUGHLIN, SPOTH, MOTT

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 4/22/2008 at 20:04:54

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Tuesday, April 22, 2008.

July 8, 1926-April 13, 2008

John Wayne Wheeler, of Marshalltown, died Sunday, April 13, in Tucson, Ariz., after a sudden illness. He had been spending the winter months enjoying God's beauty in hiking, taking photos and golfing in southern Arizona. A memorial service will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 26, at First United Methodist Church in Marshalltown, with the Rev. Dale Batcheler officiating.

Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 25, at Pursel-Davis Funeral Home in Marshalltown.

John Wayne Wheeler was born July 8, 1926, in Boone, to Schuyler and Eva (Carlson) Wheeler, after his mother walked to the hospital for delivery. He grew up in Des Moines, graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1944. He served in the U.S. Army as a member of Mark Clark's honor guard in Austria, staying with locals and talking to troops who had served with his brother, Schuyler, who had been killed in the Battle of the Bulge.

He graduated from Iowa State University in engineering in 1950 and first worked in Cedar Falls before joining Fisher Controls in Marshalltown, retiring in 1990. In 1980, he married Marylou (Dahl, Fritsch) in Ames and became a dad and grandpa.

He was a member of First Methodist Church, Promise Keepers, Rotary Club, Elmwood Country Club, SCORE and Souvenir Club. He also volunteered for first-grade Rock and Read and House of Compassion. He loved fishing in Canada with his Fisher friends. In Arizona, he hiked with the Green Valley Hiking Club, achieving his 500-mile patch; and he loved photography with his Hasselblad camera.

He is survived by his wife, Marylou; daughters, Karine (John) McLaughlin, of Glidden, Kristi (Dick) Spoth, of Ankeny, and Karla Fritsch, of New York City; five grandchildren, Kyle and Kevin Mott, of West Des Moines, and Kristopher, Kelly and Kiley Spoth, of Ankeny; and many Carlson relatives in Boone County.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Judge Waldo Wheeler and Schuyler Wheeler; and one grandson, Robert John Michael Spoth.

Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church in Marshalltown or the Friends of Madera Canyon, P.O. Box 1203, Green Valley, AZ, 85622.

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