Garfield County Obituaries
Elbert WheelerApril 6, 1931 - December 26, 2011 |
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 The memorial service for Elbert M. Wheeler, will be Friday, December 30, 2011 at 11:00AM in the Central Christian Church. The Rev. John McLemore will officiate and Rev. Don Johnson will assist. Private family burial of cremains will follow at a later date. Elbert may be viewed at Henninger-Hinson Funeral Home until 10:00PM Thursday evening. Elbert M. Wheeler was born in Enid on April 6, 1931 to Marion Norris and Lenna (Morgan) Wheeler and passed away December 26, 2011 after a lengthy illness.He graduated from Enid High School in 1949 and earned his BS in Architecture from Oklahoma A&M. He was elected to Sigma Tau, an honorary engineering fraternity, served as art director of the Oklahoma State Engineer magazine, was on the O.I.T. Student Council, a member of Blue Key, national scholarship and leadership fraternity, a member of Theta Nu Epsilon and was president of Phi Kappa Tau, his social fraternity. While at OSU, he won first prize at a national competition for the design of a college chapel put on by the Marble Institute of America. A participant in R.O.T.C., he received his commission as a 2nd Lt. in the Army upon graduation in 1954 and reported for duty at Ft. Belvoir in June of that year. He volunteered for a special course involving the use of stockpiled atomic weapons and was sent to the European Theater where he was assigned to the Post Engineer of the Ulm Germany area. Upon discharge in June of 1956, he returned home and enrolled at Oklahoma State University where he earned his Masters in Architecture. He then joined the firm of Wheeler & Wheeler Architects consisting of his father and brother Glen Wheeler. He married Meredith "Meme" Cromwell in 1958 and they celebrated 53 years of marriage in 2011. Elbert was active in the local community serving as Mayor of Enid from 1971-1973, president of the Noon Lions Club, president of the Enid Architectural Historical Survey, and a founding member of the Enid Sports Car Club. He was a lifelong member of Central Christian Church. He had many talents including jewelry design which he taught at Phillips University for many years. Elbert was preceded in death by his Father, Mother, Brother Glen and a sister Carolyn Wheeler Bowerman. He is survived by his wife Meme of the home; son Evan Wheeler and his wife Karen and their sons Daniel and Christopher of Los Gatos, California; daughter Megan Tsuyuki and her husband Robert and their children Kainoa and Mikayla of Ladera Ranch, California; and daughter Claire Lawrence and her husband Jeff and their children Tristan, Maren and Brennan of Greenville, South Carolina. While practicing architecture in Enid from 1956 to 2005 he was instrumental in the design of many buildings in the Enid area including Briggs Auditorium, Central Christian Church, the Enid Chamber of Commerce, the Salvation Army, the North Enid Branch of the Bank of Kremlin, Moore Lovell & Glasser offices, Winter Livestock, Northwest Neurology, Nicholas Agency, Parkview Doctors Building, American Standard Life Restoration completion, Alfalfa Electric Cooperative, Holderby Ford in Cherokee, Northwest Oklahoma Blood Institute, Mitchell & DeClerck Law Offices, and Enid Municipal Service Center. He designed residences for John Taylor, Kolher Thomas, M.B. Garber, Dr. Jerry Blankenship, Stuart Hoge, Tom Dillingham Sr., Tom Dillingham Jr., Dan Dillingham, Lew Meibergen, and Steve Singer. Memorials may be made to the Enid Salvation Army or Central Christian Church or the Enid Public Library with Henninger Hinson Funeral Home serving as custodian of the funds. Condolences may be made to the family online at www.enidwecare.com |