Barbara "Gigi" Wheelis

Services for Barbara “GiGi” Lee Wheelis, 88, a resident of Emerald Bay will be held on Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 10:00 AM in the Green Acres Baptist Church Chapel with Dr. Darryle Dunks and Dr. Jay Riley officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery under the direction of Stewart Family Funeral Home in Tyler. Mrs. Wheelis passed away on April 27, 2009 in Tyler. She was born in a log cabin on April 11, 1921 in Oklahoma to the late Harvey and Cecil Gibson Lee. She was raised in Longview where she graduated from Longview High School. She attended Baylor University where she met her husband Dean. They moved to several places in the oil patch in East Texas including New London, Turnertown and Athens, West Texas and then eventually moving to Tyler. “GiGi” was a long time member of Green Acres Baptist Church where she was a member of the senior choir and then a member of Emerald Bay Community Church. She was a homemaker who enjoyed traveling and playing bridge. “GiGi” was a dedicated sports fan and a true golf enthusiast who at the age of 80 was overjoyed when she scored her first hole in one on hole #13 at the Emerald Bay golf course. Most of all she loved her family and spending time with them. She loved nature and God’s many creations and always eager to witness God’s handiwork. “GiGi” loved her garden and among her many flowers she always had bird feeders hanging around her premises. In addition to her parents, Mrs. Wheelis was preceded in death by her husband, Gerald Dean Wheelis and her sister Norma Lee Hurst. She is survived by a loving family including a daughter, Patricia Ann Bullard and husband Royce of Bullard; two sons, James Lee Wheelis and wife Marie of Luling and Charles David Wheelis and wife Jeanette of DeSoto; grandchildren, Teresa Bullard Hubbell and husband Judd, Tracey Bullard Young, Scott Bullard and wife Stefanie of New Braufnels, Nikki Wheelis Meredith and husband David of Luling, Kenton Dean Wheelis and wife Katryna of Luling; great-grandchildren, Josh Young, Colton Daniels, Linzi Daniels, Hanna Faith Bullard and Halle Madison Bullard; sister-in-law, Clara Nell Wheelis Kaufman and husband Leon of Houston; brother-in-law Ray Dean Brown of Arlington; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Pallbearers will be grandsons and great-grandsons: Scott Bullard, Colton Daniels, David Meredith, Kenton Wheelis, Judd Hubbell, Josh Young, and Steven Hurst. Honorary pallbearers will be her Wednesday afternoon bridge group. Memorials in honor of Barbara Wheelis may be made to the Hospice of East Texas Foundation, 4111 University Blvd., Tyler, Texas 75701; Green Acres Baptist Church Senior Adult Choir, 1607 Troup Hwy., Tyler, Texas 75701; or the Emerald Bay Community Church, 160 S. LaSalle Dr., Bullard, Texas 75757.

Barbara "Gigi" Wheelis

April 11, 1921 - April 27, 2009