William Roland Wheeler

William Roland Wheeler, of Bradenton, passed away on April 25, 2016.
Survived by his wife Constance 'Connie', daughter Caroline Kurz and her husband Bob, who provided 4 successful grandchildren and 2 wonderful great grandsons. For some reason, they all live up north.
He is also survived by his son Bill and his wife Barbara, who live locally.

He was a loving husband to Connie for 68 years and the beloved father to his children.

William was born in 1929, the son of Roland and Margaret Wheeler in Schenectady NY. His father died while he was seven, he was raised by his mother and grandmother during the Great Depression. His mother later remarried to Orient Giroux. William met Constance at Hoffmen's Skating Rink. Their partnership endured for the rest of his life.

He joined the Air Force during the Korean War, and was placed in the Strategic Air Command. During this time, his parents and and grandparents immigrated from New York to Bradenton, which became the families forever home.

During his early years, in the Air Force, he was one of the men assigned to maintain and repair the atomic weapons. During his service, while at MacDill, he received the peace time award of the Air Force Commendation Medal. On his second enlistment, he was granted his electronics school. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was allowed to become a civilian.

He moved the family to Bradenton. He worked hard and his family prospered. He and his co-workers at the Sarasota based EMR, hand built the telemetry equipment that served the space race for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. He then moved into the industrial computer controls in it's early stages.

In addition to electronics he was a Florida Registered Master Electrical Contractor. He never met an electron he couldn't make useful. He hand built our family's first color TV.

After his retirement, be became and remained active in local politics. He was always the champion of the everyday family. Additionally, in retirement he and Mom toured the prominent cities of Europe.

He was a Mason and a Shriner.

A Graveside Service with interment will be held on Thursday, April 28th at 2:00 pm at Sarasota National Cemetery.

There will be a Celebration of his Life in the near Future.

In lieu of flowers, William would be pleased by donations to any local charity.

His family wishes to thank the ladies from Heart 2 Heart, who tended to him in his last trial.