David Lowen Wheeler, age 70, passed away in Ruidoso, NM on Dec. 13, 2023.
David was born on June 23, 1953, to Lowell and Marlene (Lundy) Wheeler in Wessington Springs, SD. The family later moved to Brookings where daughter, Vonda, was born in 1957.
He graduated from Brookings High School in 1971, furthered his education at SDSU and then at Brown Institute in Minneapolis where he studied broadcasting. His naturally deep, beautiful speaking voice led him to disc jockey positions (as Dave Clark) at radio stations in Montana, California, Washington, Iowa and SD.
David was blessed with three children from his first marriage: Sarah, Joshua and Matthew. In 1989, David married Janice Lea. They lived in Rapid City, Des Moines, and Ruidoso, NM.
He had many talents and interests. Growing up, David was an excellent swimmer, a Boy Scout and won trophies in bowling and archery. He enjoyed ice-skating, playing hockey and baseball and was a wrestler in high school. He was proficient in history and could recall historical facts in a way that made them interesting.
Two weeks after The Beatles arrived in America in 1964, David asked to take guitar lessons instead of piano. He used his paper route money, from The Brookings Register, to help his parents pay for a guitar and the lessons. He became a wonderful musician and was a lifelong Beatles fan.
David loved the outdoors and hiked in the mountains at the many state parks where his family vacationed. He could look at photos he’d taken on the trips and even years later, he was still able to identify specific mountains and ranges.
One of David’s greatest pleasures was fishing, chiefly fly fishing. He loved the sport throughout his life and especially enjoyed fishing at Rapid Creek in SD and Big Thompson River in CO.
In addition to fishing, a great joy in David’s later life was his five-year-old granddaughter, Lillian. They loved to play, laugh, go for walks, read and eat donuts together. Lillian lovingly called him “Bumpa “.
David was well known for his wonderful sense of humor, sarcasm and wit. His nieces and nephews describe David as their “favorite, funniest uncle”. He was a talented guy with a great voice and was an easy person to talk to. David was characterized as kind and “a defender of the little guy”.
Grateful for having shared David’s life are his wife, Janice Wheeler, daughter Sarah (Troy Volk) Wheeler, granddaughter, Lillian Volk, son, Joshua Wheeler, sister Vonda (Austin) Vanderzee, along with brothers in law, sisters in law, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lowell and Marlene Wheeler and his beloved son, Matthew David Wheeler.
