Photo via the Duluth News Tribune // www.duluthnewstribune.com/community/people/6555355-Duluth-businessman-philanthropist-Tom-Wheeler-remembered
Duluth-area businessman, philanthropist and regular contributor to the News Tribune Opinion page Tom Wheeler, 74, died Friday at his home in Tucson, Arizona.
For the past few years, the lifelong Duluthian split his time between Tucson and Duluth. Patrick Heffernan, his son-in-law and co-worker at Wheeler Associates, said Wheeler would normally be back to Duluth by this time of year, but he was waiting to see how the COVID-19 pandemic would play out.
“He had an absolute love for Duluth,” Heffernan said. “He instilled the importance of community in me and the rest of his family and firm. He was just a huge believer that a community is what community makes it.”
Wheeler was born into a family with deep roots in Duluth. His great-grandfather, Henry W. Wheeler, was one of Duluth’s pioneers, starting a sawmill in the city in the 19th century.
Read the full article in the Duluth News Tribune here.
This article was originally published on June 30, 2020 and was written by Teri Cadeau.