EDDITH WHEELER

Eddith Belle Wheeler, 90, the first child of William Owen and Alta Terrill Bouldin, was born June 10, 1913, at Fordland, at the home of her maternal grandparents, Alfred C. and Sarah Almira Sexson Terrill. She died April 25, 2004, at the home of her daughter at Willow Springs. She grew up in Wright County and graduated from Mountain Grove High School. She married Ernest Allen Wheeler Feb. 15, 1931, at Springfield. They had five children and lived on farms in the early years of their marriage. Mrs. Wheeler was a typical farm wife: raising her children, keeping house, growing and canning fruits and vegetables, tending to the animals and working in the fields. During World War II, she made and sold butter and cottage cheese to cafes in Mountain Grove. The Wheelers raised broilers, turkeys and hogs to supplement their income. In 1947, they moved to Illinois and a year later returned to Missouri. They purchased a farm near Willow Springs with a Grade A dairy barn and a flock of sheep. In the drought of the ’50s, they were forced to leave the Ozarks again. In 1953, they moved to California, where they lived in several locals in the San Diego area and in Roswell, N.M. In 1965, they returned to the Ozarks to the Mountain Grove area. Following their 50th wedding anniversary, they moved to Theodosia and bought a home overlooking the lake. Health problems brought them back to Mountain Grove. The Wheelers’ homes reflected her gift of interior design and landscaping. She was preceded in death by her husband March 5, 1998, after 67 years of marriage; her parents; a sister, Neva Jean Bouldin; and a granddaughter. Surviving are her children, Dawn Swenson of Mountain Grove, Kay Elmore of Willow Springs, Steven E. Wheeler of Nixa, A. Chris Wheeler of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Karen Fagan of Grain Valley; two sisters, Aliene Fox of Springfield and Betty Crayton of San Diego, Calif.; 18 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren. Graveside services were April 30 at the Hillcrest Cemetery at Mountain Grove with the Rev. David Cox officiating under the direction of Craig-Hurtt-Bradley Funeral Home of Mountain Grove. “