Doris "Dot" Wheeler

Doris (“Dot”) Irene Coleman Wheeler passed away on Thursday, June 3, 2021, in Odessa, Texas.

She was born on September 13, 1927, in the small town of Dothan (Eastland County), Texas to Ottie Lee (Head) Coleman and Joseph Riley Coleman. Dot graduated from nearby Putnam High School, in 1945.

In 1947, a shy David Eugene (“Gene”) Wheeler enlisted the help of his mother to secure a date with the pretty 19-year-old, Dot. It was at the Odessa Air Show the two fell in love, and married about a month later, on August 14. Dot and Gene’s romantic partnership would later become a professional collaboration, when she became the bookkeeper and secretary for D&W Plumbing, the company he founded. Their marriage lasted 66 years, until Gene’s passing, in 2013.

While she grew up a Methodist, she gravitated toward the Baptist faith. She embraced the church, with the exception of one detail – a fear of water kept her from being baptized. “She told the preacher that if he tried to baptize her, one of them would drown,” said her daughter, Debbie.

An avid word game player, Dot also enjoyed television game shows, even if she couldn’t stay awake to find out who went home with a new car or the jackpot payout. “She would often doze off during a show, and have to call my brother Willie, to learn who won,” Debbie said.

Always one to keep busy, Dot could often be found painting ceramics, baking delicious cakes, and doting on her three grandchildren.

Her kindness and generosity knew no bounds. If someone admired an item in her home, she would often offer the piece to them, to be appreciated in their own home. When asked what she attributed to her long life, she would always reply “By being nice to people.”

Dot is preceded in death by her husband, parents, sister Faye Waldrop, and son Harold Wheeler. She is survived by son William (“Willie”) Wheeler, and daughter Debbie Jackson (husband Shawn), of Odessa; daughter-in-law Mary Wheeler of Odessa, and three grandchildren, Bryan Wheeler (wife Lisa) of Denver, CO; Candice Wheeler Grundy (husband Russel) of Round Rock, TX; and Sarah Jackson of Odessa.

Please make donations to High Sky Children’s Ranch instead of flowers.