| Donald J. Wheelan
A former Washington resident, Don J. Wheelan, 88, of Midwest
City, Oklahoma, died Friday, August 19, 2005, in Deaconess Hospital, Oklahoma City.
He was born December 26, 1916, in Washington County Hospital,
Washington, Iowa, to John H. and Martha Swift Wheelan. His parents
preceded him in death.
In 1981, he married Maxine Beaver, who survives. He is also
survived by two sisters, Esther (Mrs. Bernard) Blaine, of Independence,
Missouri, and Roberta (deceased husband, Robert) Clark of Urbana,
Illinois, a brother, Mike (wife, Donna) of Washington, Iowa, two
stepsons, Larry (wife Pam) Beaver of Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Dennis Beaver of Key West, Florida, and grandson Lee Beaver of Midwest City,
Oklahoma. There are also twenty-three nieces and nephews.
Don received his early education in Washington rural and city
schools. He attended Washington Junior College and the University of Iowa.
On October 6, 1941, he joined the Navy Cadet Flight Programs in
Glenview, Illinois, and was therefore already in training at the time of
the Pearl Harbor attack.
He was commissioned an ensign in the Naval Air Corps in 1942 and
was assigned to Norman, Oklahoma, as a lieutenant and flight instructor.
As a flight instructor in Corpus Christi, Texas, he later trained
several Washington young men as pilots for service in World War II.
He was himself assigned to an aircraft carrier for flight duty
when the atom bomb ended the war. He was discharged August 9, 1946. Don
returned to Oklahoma, where he became an insurance broker at American
National Insurance Company. Funeral services were held August 23 at St.
Philip Neri Catholic Church in Midwest City. Interment was at Arlington
Memory Gardens, Midwest City.
Pallbearers were: Mike Wheelan, Dan Wheelan, Dennis Beaver, Larry
Beaver, Lee Beaver, and Don Manning. Serving as honorary pallbearers
were: Dr. William Parry, John Merritt, Jim Tappan, Dee Collins, Dan
Taylor and Charles Dryden.
Funeral arrangements were handled by Eisenhour Funeral Home Southeast.
(www.eisenhourfuneralhome.com) |
