Kathey Lorene Wheeler

Kathey Lorene Wheeler passed away December 27, 2019 at Centerpoint Hospital in Independence, Missouri. She was born to Roy Sanders and Vida Wade Sanders on July 11, 1945, in Elk Fork Township, Pettis County, Missouri.

Kathey is survived by her husband, Daniel J. Wheeler, of the home, her daughter Rachel Cathleen (Kyle) Cressman, of Memphis, and her son, Daniel J. (Samantha) Wheeler III, of Independence, her brother Keneth Sanders, of St. Louis, and nephew, Timothy Sanders, of St. Louis. She was predeceased by her parents.

Kathey was a graduate of the Missouri School for the Blind. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from St. Louis University and a Master’s degree in Anglo-Irish Literature from the National University of Ireland in Dublin.

She was married to Daniel Wheeler April 8, 1972, at the Old Cathedral on the St. Louis riverfront. She was one of the “most married” people, having been married by three priests in a cathedral.

Kathey loved children and certified in Special Education so she could teach handicapped children at the Kansas State School for the Visually Impaired. She also worked as a Taxpayer Service Representative helping people deal with the Internal Revenue Service.

Kathey participated in many blind and other organizations. She was a youth leader in the Campfire program and also served on the Board of Directors for the Heartland Council of Parliamentarians, Allied Workers of the Blind, Missouri Council of the Blind and American Council of the Blind.

She helped the Salvation Army Seeing Help program by establishing a reading machine in Independence consisting of a fat-bed scanner hooked to a talking computer that could be used by people who could not read their own written materials. Kathey also served as a Christmas bell ringer for the Salvation Army.

She chaired the Citizens with Disabilities Advisory Board for the City of Independence, and served as Treasurer, Vice President of the Allied Workers.

Kathey was President of the Noland Road Lions Club and the Santa Fe Trail Unit of Parliamentarians and was Vice President of the Missouri State Association of Parliamentarians. She served as the parliamentarian for the American Council of the Blind’s national convention for four years and chaired its Constitution and Bylaws Committee for six years. And, Kathey served as Director, Vice President and, ultimately, President of the Missouri Council of the Blind.

Visitation will be Thursday, January 2, 2020, from 10 am until noon at Newcomer’s Noland Road Chapel, 509 S. Noland Rd. Independence, Missouri 6450. Interment in Mount Lebanon Cemetery, St. Ann, Missouri.