Robert Simmons Wheeler, age 77, of Clinton, Missouri, died Tuesday morning, April 23, 2024 at Research Medical Center, Kansas City, MO from a stroke originating from sleep apnea.
Robert was born July 24, 1946 to Waldo P. and Pauline Simmons Wheeler at the Moffet Hospital in Windsor, MO.
Robert always enjoyed meeting people and from that came many, many friendships he enjoyed through life.
As a younger boy, Robert mowed yards for years to earn enough money to attend a National Boy Scout Jamboree held near Pikes Peak, Colorado. President Eisenhower delighted the scouts by visiting the jamboree. In Boy Scouts, Robert earned the God and Country award and was an eagle scout.
On hot summer days, Robert and many other grade schoolers played baseball games on the vacant lot Marge and Ralph Allen owned behind their home. And played “Little League” baseball. High school basketball coach Paul Schwartz began working with his future players in the fourth grade, teaching them proper fundamentals from the start. Robert was fortunate to be in one of those classes. The result was several years of high school teams winning first or second place in the West Central Conference, in which Windsor was one of the smaller schools. In 1964 Robert played center on a team that won the conference and had fun in the 1964 Clinton Tournament prevailing against tough opponents Clinton, legendary coach Bud Lathrop’s Raytown South team and Sedalia.
Robert was elected president of his senior high school class of 1964 and thereafter was involved in putting together its class reunions.
In 1968 Robert graduated University of Missouri with a bachelor degree in agricultural economics, serving as rush chairman and president of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity as well as on the homecoming steering committee. Robert loved swimming and at the university’s swimming pool earned the Red Cross Water Safety Instruction certification to be a pool lifeguard.
Robert worked as a marketing representative for Standard Oil of Indiana selling their fertilizer and other agricultural products, working out of Marion, IL. Next he went into the cattle business on his own in Windsor. In 1986 he worked as a commodity futures broker in Kansas City. He then worked for Citizens State Bank of Calhoun (and later of Clinton) as a loan officer to develop their agricultural lending, later working there as president and one of the owners when the bank was sold to Hawthorn Bank in 2000 and retiring there in 2003.
From 1980 to 1986 he was married to Pamela Hammack and was a dear father to her daughter, Mindy Price.
Robert was a member of First Baptist Church of Clinton, serving as treasurer for several years. He was a member of the Clinton Rotary Club and with his efforts supported the Henry County Industrial Development Authority, Community Foundation of the Ozarks, Henry County Historical Society, and Henry County Cancer Fund Golf Tournament, as well as organized reunions of his 1964 Windsor High School class.
Robert loved trout fishing at Bennet Springs, going to area high school basketball games with his Clinton basketball fan friends and occasional trips to Las Vegas.
Robert is survived by step-daughter Mindy Price, Raleigh, NC; friend Marsha Hulvey, Clinton, MO; brothers John Wheeler, Riverside, MO; Schuyler Wheeler, Columbia, MO; cousins Mary Greenwalt, Warson Woods, MO; Sarah Buckallew and Julie Scroggs, Columbia, MO; Dennis Snyder and Bill Kinyon, Clinton, MO; Brad Wyatt, Vail, CO; John Wyatt, Denver, CO; Julie Baker, Fort Collins, CO; Mary Stober, Sedalia, MO and many other cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents.
The funeral service will be held 11:30 AM, Saturday, April 27, 2024 at First Baptist Church, 1531 N. Vansant Rd., Clinton, Missouri, pastor Pat Findley officiating, followed by burial at Laurel Oak Cemetery on Highway E in Windsor, Missouri. Family will receive friends 9:30 to 11:30 AM at the church preceding the funeral.
For those wishing to leave a memorial contribution, Robert requested donations be made to the First Baptist Church Endowment Fund #2, and these may be left in care of Vansant-Mills Funeral Home, Clinton, Missouri.
