MCLEANSBORO — For the past few years, Thomas Wenfield Wheeler has said he wasn’t ready for the “bus” to come and get him. Since May 2012 when he was injured in a fall and became paralyzed from the neck down, the “bus” has been out front honking for him. He finally got on the angels’ bus at 9:10 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2, 2013, when, at the age of 87, he passed away. He was surrounded by those that loved him in Hamilton County Memorial Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in his home town of McLeansboro.

Tom was born March 26, 1926, in McLeansboro to the late Leonard “Bunt” Wheeler and Uldine Vaughn Wheeler. The rough oil field worker “ran off with the preacher’s daughter” and married the love of his life, Eleanor Kathleen Greer, on May 1, 1943, in Jackson, Mo. Tom has been lost without her since her death Nov. 18, 2004.

Tom is survived by his sons, Thomas D. and Lynda of Buckner, Stephen Winfield and Elizabeth of Du Quoin, Wendell Lee and Kim of Carbondale and Scott and Mary Miller of Rocky Mountain, N.C. Tom lost a son, Daniel Joseph (wife, Donna Wheeler) on Jan. 11, 2012, in Rocky Mountain, N.C.

Other survivors include grandchildren, Dhana Dee Wheeler of Christopher, Thomas Jon (TJ) and Deanna Wheeler of Tolono, Brandi Wheeler of Raleigh, N.C., Neil and Niki Wheeler of Raleigh, N.C., Connor Wheeler of Warrensberg, Mo., Macie Wheeler of St. Louis, Shelby Wheeler of Du Quoin, Hylan Wheeler of Rocky Mountain, N.C.; and great-grandchildren, Hunter Thomas Wheeler of Christopher, John Thomas (JT) Wheeler, Myla, Dylan and Rysa Stacy, all of Tolono, and Colton Wheeler of Raleigh, N.C.

Tom lied about his age and quit school to serve his country during World War II. He was sent to St. Louis and then shipped to New York for naval yard boot camp. He then was chosen to attend engineering school, where he stayed till he graduated as a Marine engineer. He was then shipped out on the USS Davy Crocket, which patrolled the South Pacific. It was during this time that the South Pacific encountered one of the worst typhoons in history.

Tom didn’t stay home long as he was called back into the Navy during the Korean War because of his experience in the engine room. While serving at Fort Huemia, Calif., he also served as the provost’s marshall and served time in Siapan and Guam.

After a stay in LaPorte, Ind., working for the Labors Union under his late sister Phyllis’s husband, Sylvester Jaske, he returned to his roots north of the tracks in McLeansboro. There he became an independent contractor and his bright yellow trucks with Tom Wheeler and Sons House Movers became familiar to Hamilton County residents. He moved many homes throughout Southern Illinois, including many in Benton preparing for interstate 57. He once moved 137 homes out of an army facility in Northern Indiana.

A heart attack in McLeansboro in 1964 changed his occupation as he accepted a job with SIU in the engineering department at Camp Breckinridge Job Corps in Morganfield, Ky., which later led to the family moving to Johnston City when he worked on campus at SIU in Carbondale.

His ability to handle men and knowledge of machines put his family on a tour of the states. Starting at Blue Bell in Du Quoin, to Morgan Colorado Beef in Fort Morgan, Colo., to Hygrade Beef in Seattle, clear across the country to Lundy’s in Clinton, N.C. In 1989, he retired and moved back to Southern Illinois, settling in Benton.

Tom was better known as the “Big Bear” in his later days as a golfer. In fact, his family has hosted a golf tournament for the past 17 years in his honor called Wheeler’s Big Bear Golf Classic. This has always been one of his favorite days to visit and meet teachers, coaches, ath-letes and friends of his family.

Not only a great husband, father, grandfather and uncle, he was one who loved to entertain and tell stories, especially those of his days of growing up in McLeansboro. He also loved watching his sons, grandkids and great-grandchildren compete in athletics in high school, college and later in the coaching profession.

His proudest moment in the eyes of his family was when he accepted the Lord into his life in his greenhouse in his backyard in Benton with the help of Brother Billy Duncan. He was later baptized Nov. 3, 2002, by Brother Duncan in First Baptist Church of McLeansboro, the church where his father-in-law, the Rev. Dewey Greer, once preached.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, in First General Baptist Church in McLeansboro with the Rev. Ken Cook officiating. Burial will be in McLeansboro IOOF Cemetery with military honors provided by American Legion Post 106 and the Military Honors team from Marion. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, at the church.

Gholson Funeral Home of McLeansboro is assisting the family with arrangements.