J. PATRICK WHEELER

J. Patrick Wheeler, 90, of Lake Ozark and Canton, Missouri, died July 21, 2018 at Lakeside Meadows in Osage Beach, Mo.

He was born on February 25, 1928 in St. Patrick, Mo., to Joseph Martin and Mary Louise (King) Wheeler.

He graduated from the St. Patrick Catholic grade and high schools and graduated from St. Louis University Law School in 1951. He practiced law in Canton for 66 years, retiring in 2017. During his practice he had the honor of serving multiple terms as the prosecuting attorney for Lewis County, Missouri. He received numerous professional awards, including the President’s Award of the Missouri Bar Association, and served on multiple state bar committees and as an officer of numerous state and national legal organizations, including being a past president and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient of the American Agricultural Law Association. He cherished the many friendships he developed with his staff, his clients and their families, and the attorneys and judges he worked with. His community activities included being a founder of the Sun N Surf swim pool and an active member of St. Joseph Catholic Church for over forty years and Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church at Lake Ozark, Mo.

He married Mary Ellen Roetto on November 24, 1949 and they raised four children in Canton. Later, on July 12, 1996 he married Clare Robinson in Lake Ozark, Missouri.

He is survived by his wife, Clare, daughter Kathy Faoro (Mark), sons Joe (Barb) and Dan (Shelley), step-daughters Gayla Dunn (Val), Marcy Robinson-O’Connor (Richard) and Julie Robinson, and a brother Sam (Mary Jean) Wheeler, as well as numerous grand-children, nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his daughter Mary Pat Harrod, her husband Jimmy, and an infant sister Martha and infant brother Dan.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Father James Wheeler OFM on Saturday, July 28, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Canton, Missouri. Visitation will be held July 27 from 5 until 8 p.m. at Arnold’s Funeral Home in Canton with the rosary at 7:30 p.m.

Pallbearers: Collin Wheeler, Connor Wheeler, Garret Wightman, Clancy Dunn, Val Dunn and John Wheeler

Burial will be in the St. Patrick Cemetery in St. Patrick Missouri.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the St. Patrick Cemetery, c/o Howard Kirchner, 701 Clark St., Canton, MO 63435.

Online condolences may be left at www.arnoldsfuneralhome.net