Harold Gray Wheeler
Harold G. Wheeler, aged 90 years, died on the morning of March 14, 2021 in Virginia Beach, where he had lived with his cherished wife Evangeline since 1958.
He was born and reared in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated from Durham High School in 1949, where he excelled on the tennis team. About to be drafted at the outset of the Korean War, he and his buddies decided to join the Navy. He served two years at Seventh Fleet Headquarters in Yokuska, Japan, and later on the LST 762 participated in atomic bomb testing in the Marshall Islands.
Back home, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and jumped with joy when he received an offer to teach English at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. On a Saturday afternoon he took his last exam. That evening he married his sweetheart, Evangeline Copeland, and together they departed for Virginia Beach.
He enjoyed taking his family to the beach, to the circus, to a picnic, to strolls through Seashore State Park, to a visit with grandparents, to a play or concert, to a tour of Navy ships, and to those delightful visits to High’s ice cream shop. Of course he scooted out of the house when anyone called for a set of tennis.
After twenty-nine years of teaching English and coaching tennis at Princess Anne High School, he migrated to First Colonial High School where he ended his career as a teacher and substitute teacher in 2004 under the most positive, helpful, and inspiring principal of them all, Charles Atkinson. He always felt blessed to have worked with so many wonderful students and fellow teachers.
He leaves behind his son and daughter, David and Amy; his daughters-in-law Jia-Hwei (David) and Nicole Harp (Amy); his sister, Patsy, and her family in Rocky Mount, N.C.; his brother Kenneth and his family in Chesapeake, Va.; his brother Ted and his family in Bullard, Tx.; and his treasured surrogate grandchildren, Amber, Kaitlin, and Ryan Hampton.
A Celebration of Life for Harold and his wife Evangeline will be held in the Garden Auditorium at the Norfolk Botanical Garden on Saturday, April 17, from 2pm to 4pm.