He is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart of 47 years, Linda Wheeler; the most amazing son and daughter-in-law, J.R. and Kristin Wheeler; his motivation and granddaughters, Kiyah and Kynslee Wheeler; his mother, Laverne (Mema) Wheeler; his sister, Tresa Lowe; nephew, Josh Gamble; sister and brother-in-law, Becky and Darren Adams; nephew and niece, Ethan and Bethany Adams and two great nephews, Zeke and Eli Adams; his niece, Tara Gamble and great niece, Daci Gamble. He was preceded in death by his father, James Wheeler; his daughter-in-law, Kristen Wheeler; his nephew, Aaron Gamble; his great nephew, Landry Gamble and his brother-in-law, Carroll Lowe.
Jim always treated every person he met as an equal and always had a joke on hand for any occasion. He passionately loved his family but like any old-school farm/rancher put that love to the test while working cattle.
Jim’s most notable accomplishments were: being selected as an Ornithological Ambassador to China in 1994 by the Clinton Administration, being honored by the Zoological Association of America with the title “most achieved breeder of an avian species” while being featured on the cover of the AZA’s quarterly journal, holding the honor of being the “first of propagation of an ornithological species” by the AZA record books, owning and operation the Bulldog Diner in Greenwood, and helping found Roo Doo’s Wildlife Park of Greenwood in 2015. However, if you were to ask Jim what his most notable accomplishments were, he would respond, his family and their faith. He stood out in a secular world of construction as a man true to Christ. He led his workers each morning in prayer before the day began. He would hold his hands high in worship as he sat in “his church” (his white truck with the aluminum bed) on a knoll at the zoo and praised God for his family, his life, his granddaughters, and the opportunity that God gave him to work and spend most of every day with them building his dream, the zoo.
A service to mourn the loss but celebrate his eternal victory will be held at First Assembly of God in Greenwood on Thursday, August 31 at 3 p.m.
Honorary pallbearers will be J.R. Wheeler, Josh Gamble, Darren Adams, Ethan Adams, Jacob and Justin Strickland and Mike Hamby.
To share a memory or leave a message for the family, please visit www.mcconnellfh.com.
