Final Salute

June 30, 1939 – February 26, 2024
In the company of his family, David Wheeler passed peacefully on February 26, 2024. A devout Catholic, Husband, Father, and Grandfather, David lived a full life. Born in Hartford, CT on June 30, 1939, to Reynold and Gertrude Wheeler, David was the oldest of five children.
As a child, David’s first love was baseball. He pitched the first Little League game played in Farmington and continued to play baseball through high school and as an adult into his seventies. David attended Farmington High School, Class of 1957, where he was a starting pitcher and excelled in both academics and athletics. His abilities as a baseball player and pitcher earned him recognition and an offer to play Major League baseball for the Detroit Tigers which he turned down, opting to attend college instead. A lifelong Red Sox fan, David continued to play baseball as an adult with Roy Hobbs and Men’s Senior Baseball Leagues well into his 70s and won five World Series Championships both as a player and a manager.
After graduating from Farmington High School in 1957, David attended Manhattan College, where in 1961, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, the first in his family to graduate from college.
David enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1956 while still in high school. Upon graduation from college, he attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Navy in November 1961. He served in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineering Corps for 24 years achieving the rank of Commander. He served as a Seabee in the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion One completing tours in Cuba, Spain, and Vietnam where he earned a Bronze Star with a Combat “V” for Valor. David served three tours in the Philippines, where he met his wife Linda Bush who was a teacher for the Department of Defense schools, and served tours in Hawaii, California, and Washington, DC.
David and Linda were married at Clark Air Base, Philippines, in October 1965 and remained married for 58 years until his death. Along the way, David and Linda raised seven children and additionally opened their home and hearts to a combined 75 foster children. Following his retirement and honorable discharge from the Navy in 1986, David worked for TRW and Northrop Grumman, managing projects in the Washington, DC area and overseas.
In recent years, David developed aphasia and ultimately lost the ability to communicate. Despite his declining health, his Catholic faith and love for his family and baseball remained strong.
David was preceded in death by his parents, Reynold and Gertrude (Flood) Wheeler; grandson, Logan Wheeler; and brother, Michael Wheeler. He is survived by his wife, Linda Wheeler; his sons, David Wheeler Jr., Chris Wheeler, Dan Wheeler, and Emmitte Wheeler; his daughters, Lisa Rodriguez, Joanna Carlson, and Carolyn Wheeler; his sisters, June McKeon and Elizabeth Wheeler; his brother, Joseph Wheeler; and 21 grandchildren.
Friends may call at the Adams-Green Funeral Home, 721 Elden St., Herndon, VA, on Thursday, February 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. Funeral Mass will be held at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 11900 Lawyers Rd, Reston, VA, on Friday, March 1, at 11 a.m. Burial with full Military Honors will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. For a full obituary

Published by The Washington Post on Feb. 29, 2024.