INFORMATION PROVIDED BY JOHN MERRELL:
Graduation Year: 1966
Date Of Birth: Jan-1948
Date Deceased: Sept-2-2023
Age at Death: 75
Cause of Death: Heart Failure
Classmate City: Portage
Classmate State: IN
Classmate Country: USA
Was a Veteran: Yes, Navy
George Wheeler will have a memorial service at rees in Hobart Fri. the 15th at 6 pm Visitation from 3 til 6.
George was my brother-in-law. a little rough on the outside but a teddy bear inside. Joyce and i will miss him.
OBITUARY FROM REES FUNERAL HOME WEBSITE:
George A. Wheeler Jr., Age 75, of Portage passed away on Saturday, September 2,2023 at Regency Hospital in Portage. He was born on January 8, 1948, in Gary, Indiana to the late George A. and Mae (nee Detterline) Wheeler. George proudly served his country in the United States Navy, where he received a National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal. On February 20, 1971, George married the love of his life Lynda Sheppard, and they spent 39 loving years together before her passing in 2010. He was a member of the VFW Post 5365 and the American Legion Post 54 both of Hobart. George will be remembered as a loving husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend.
George is survived by his two daughters, Shari (Ken) Stiglich and Dyan (Mike) Leto; four grandchildren, Alyssa, Brynn, Kira and Kayla; two sisters, Joyce (John) Merrell and Laura (George) Chapman; nieces and nephew and other loving family members and friends.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Lynda (nee Sheppard) Wheeler; mother, Mae (nee Detterline) Wheeler; and father, George A. Wheeler Sr...
A memorial service for George will be held on Friday, September 15, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at Rees Funeral Home, 600 West Old Ridge Road, Hobart, Indiana 46342. Memorial visitation will also be held Friday, September 15, 2023, from 3:00-6:00 p.m. also at Rees Funeral Home, Hobart, Indiana 46342. For more information (219) 942-2109 or online condolences can be shared with the family at www.reesfuneralhomes.com.
This information and the picture below were obtained from: https://www.reesfuneralhomes.com/obituary/george-wheeler.
Fred Higgenbottom (1966)
Although deep in the winter of my own life now and knowing full well that we all have an appointment with death I was still saddened by the news of George passing.
While going to elementary, Jr. High and High school together during the late 50’s and early 60’s George and I lived directly across the street from each other on a dead end section of Lincoln Street in Hobart. But we lost touch with each other almost 60 years ago when my family moved from Hobart, Indiana to Sparta, Tennessee in the summer of 1964.
Yet in all those years I’ve never forgotten the storied, carefree days we spent together during our childhood sharing birthday parties, entertaining ourselves with board games on warm and muggy summer days and playing flag football and pickup baseball games together in a nearby field behind my home along with friends and classmates like Jeff Garmong, Mike Berdy, Jimmy, Danny and Gary McDowell.
Solomon was right, life is brief and with the loss of another classmate once again I am reminded of his famous words in Ecclesiastes when pondering his mortality. “Vanity of Vanity all is Vanity”.
Ralph Sisco (1966)
Fred: Those were the "Wonder Years". Thank you for those memories. My thoughts and prayers are with George's family. Blessings, Ralph Sisco (HHS classmate).
Andrea Flanders (Ezra) (1966)
George was a sweetheart of a guy. We went to Trinity together and he always had a grin on his face. A loyal friend. He will be missed. I'm so sorry for his family's loss.
Diana Bartholomew (Driscoll) (1966)
Fred, so very eloquent. George would have been pleased.