Obituaries : Curtis A. Wheeler, 61; Times Circulation Worker

Curtis A. Wheeler of Camarillo, a longtime resident of Ventura County, died at Columbia Los Robles Hospital after a brief illness. He was 61.

He was born May 3, 1935, in Bath, N.H.

Wheeler enlisted in the Air Force after high school and in 1958 was stationed at Oxnard Air Force Base, which is now Camarillo Airport.

In 1963, Wheeler married his wife, Madeline, and the couple moved into a home in Camarillo.

After leaving the Air Force, Wheeler worked as a distributor for The Times, coordinating deliveries in eastern Camarillo, Somis and Moorpark.

Many delivery agents at the time were responsible for all aspects of the newspaper after it rolled off the presses, from tying up each individual paper in the early morning to ensuring the copies made it onto subscribers’ driveways in time for breakfast.

“You used to do everything yourself,” said Wheeler’s daughter, Dolores Houston.

After a few years of coordinating local deliveries and billing, Wheeler took a hiatus from the newspaper business and began driving for the A. W. Coulter Trucking Co., based in Santa Paula.

Eight years later, Wheeler returned to The Times as a delivery agent, his daughter said, a job he held for the rest of his life.

Wheeler also helped establish a small trucking company in 1990 with his son-in-law, Houston’s husband, Tod. The company, C & T Trucking of Camarillo, hauls goods throughout California, Arizona and Nevada.

“That was his life. Just those two things--trucking and the newspaper,” Houston said, adding that her father also enjoyed spending time with his many grandchildren.

Wheeler is survived by his wife of 33 years, Madeline; daughters Dolores Houston of Camarillo and Mary Davis of Ohio; sons John and Douglas Wheeler, both of Camarillo, and William Wheeler of Florida; brother Kenneth Wheeler of New Hampshire; and 14 grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Wayne and Mary Wheeler, and a brother, Donald Wheeler.

Visitation will be Monday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Chapel of the Islands at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park, Camarillo. Services will be at 1 p.m. at the chapel. Interment will follow at the cemetery.

Arrangements are under the direction of Conejo Mountain Memorial Park and Funeral Home, Camarillo.