Mark E. Wheeler

Los Angeles, Ca. - Mark E. Wheeler, 49, died on January 12, 2007, from post surgical complications following thyroid surgery at the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital. He was born on April 25, 1957 in Lancaster, NH to the late Nathalie (Brisson) Wheeler and the late Robert Kimble Wheeler. He attended Lancaster Elementary School. Following the death of his mother in 1974, Esther Greenwood and her late husband Paul of Lancaster generously opened their home to Mark while he completed his senior year at White Mountains Regional High School. Following graduation in 1975 he moved to Newport Beach, CA. He attended Orange Coast College and was employed as a clerk for several grocery stores. He joined the Army in 1979 and served five years with the U.S. Army Green Berets as a medic. He took part in the U.S. military occupation of Granada in November-December, 1983. He was discharged from active duty in 1984 after breaking an ankle in a parachute jump during a training exercise. He later served several years with the Army Reserve. He had a life long passion for skiing and was employed as a ski instructor at the Sun Valley, Idaho ski school for a number of years. He greatly enjoyed his last ski trip to Heavenly Valley at Lake Tahoe, CA in December. He worked with the U.S. Forestry Service as a fire fighter for several years. He worked in auto sales and inventory control for a large Ford dealership in Aurora, Colorado. He was currently attending the Santa Barbara City College, CA Radiographic and Imaging program and was due to graduate as a Radiographic Technician in the spring.

He is survived by two brothers, Stephen B. Wheeler and his wife Nova of Newport Beach, CA,

Christopher R. Wheeler and his wife Marilyn of Lancaster, NH, along with two Aunts, Mary Louise (Wheeler) Almeida of Ludlow, MA and Elizabeth (Brisson) Pelkey of Yorba Linda, CA, many cousins, two nieces, two grand-nieces and two grand nephews. Funeral arrangements will be announced by the family at a later date.

The Santa Barbara City College will have a flag lowering service with all his classmates present on Tuesday January 30

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at 12:00 PM on the West Campus in front of the library.