Kenneth R. Wheeler, 79, of Ashland, passed away on April 18, 2011 surrounded by his wife and children in Community Hospice Care Center in Ashland.
He was born May 8, 1931, in Sitka, a son of Ellis and Leliah Sublett Wheeler.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Blanche Barker Wheeler; and brothers, Dallas Edgar Wheeler and Thomas Ray Wheeler.
He retired from the Bureau of Prisons U.S. Justice Department in the woodworking department. He attended Heritage Baptist Church, was a Kentucky colonel, a graduate of Morehead State University and was co-founder of the Cannonsburg Fire Department.
Surviving are his wife, Pauline Salyers Brooks Wheeler of Ashland; sons, Kenneth Neal Wheeler of Morehead and Jerry Glenn Wheeler of Cannonsburg; daughters, Jindra L. Sturgill and husband Philip and Leliah Alice Wheeler, all of Cannonsburg; brothers, Roy Leon Wheeler of Worthington and Wendell Ellis Wheeler of Loyall; sisters, Ruth Ann Erwin of Marietta, Ga., Alice Jane Hersman of Dublin, Ga., and Betsy Skaggs of Ashland; and grandchildren, Amanda Jane Sturgill, Ashley Gannon and Tyler Wheeler.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at Steen Funeral Home - 13th Street Chapel in Ashland by the Rev. James Kelley Caudill. Burial will be in Rose Hill Burial Park Mausoleum.
Friends may call from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Friends may make contributions to Community Hospice, 1538 Central Ave., Ashland, KY 41101.
Online condolences may be sent to steenfuneralhome.com.
