Andrew Cumming Wheeler

Portland architect and artist, Andrew Wheeler, died peacefully in Oak Grove, Oregon on April 25, 2024. Andrew was born to Lawrence and Shanna Wheeler on June 11, 1930 at St. Vincent Hospital in Portland. He graduated from The Hill School in Pottstown, PA in 1949. After serving in the Army, he went on to graduate with a masters in architecture from Yale University in 1959. He married Julie Brush in 1958. Andrew worked for Skidmore, Owings & Merrell for three years before joining Newberry, Schuette and Wheeler. Later in his career, he had a solo practice and also managed a small business, The Donor Wall, which sold custom built, wood donor recognition walls to nonprofit organizations.

He was a longtime member of the First Unitarian Church and had an active civic life. He was a member of the Portland City Club, served on the Fruit & Flower Child Care Center board of directors and on the board of the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Andrew was instrumental in garnering support for the Barbara Walker Crossing, a pedestrian bridge over west Burnside completed in 2019. He was an accomplished and prolific artist, specializing in abstract sculpture. He continued producing pieces until his health declined at the beginning of 2024. He was an avid fly fisherman, with a specialty in pulling trout out of the Deschutes and Metolius rivers.

Andrew is survived by his wife, Julie, of 65 years, his children, Anne Glazer, Molly Heywood, and John Wheeler, and two grandsons, Alex and Julian Heywood. A memorial service will be held at the First Unitarian Church in Portland at 3:00 p.m. on June 11.