Dexter Wheelous remembered

WINDER - Sgt. 1st Class Dexter Wheelous could have been a career basketball player, his brother Darrell said. Instead, he chose to serve in the Army.

"He was so good they called him Bird, after Larry Bird," Darrell said. "He was left-handed like Larry Bird, too."

Wheelous, 37, who lived in Winder prior to deployment, was killed Christmas day in Baghdad, Iraq, from injuries sustained in an improvised explosive attack. He was assigned to the 842nd Military Training and Transition Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan.

The Atlanta native was the youngest of nine brothers and sisters and leaves behind his wife of nine years, Sadie, who is from Missouri.

After 20 years in the service, Wheelous was only months away from retirement, Darrell said.

"All he talked about was when he come back home, him and our oldest brother, Edwin, was going to start a family business," Darrell said. "They were going to buy two or three 18-wheelers and travel nationwide. Our brother had already gone to CDL school, so they were ready."

In high school, Wheelous followed Darrell into ROTC, where he served three years.

"He always loved the Army," said Carla Williams, a cousin.

Wheelous joined the Army in 1987 after graduating from Atlanta's S.H. Archer High School. He served as a recruiter, and recruited his niece, Cetura Willis. In July, Wheelous was assigned to a transition team mission at Fort Riley, Kan. Transition team members are assigned to Iraqi Army units with the goal of making the Iraqi Army self-sufficient. During his career he was stationed at Fort Stewart, then moved to Winder about five years ago.

Wheelous grew up behind Carver Hills and Perry Homes, some of Atlanta's oldest housing projects.

"I believe he went into the service because he did not want to go into a life of crime that everyone around him was getting caught up in," Darrell said. "He never got in any trouble growing up, and the Army was a way out. He died for a good cause and that's how he wanted it."

Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday at Jackson Memorial Baptist Church, 534 Fairburn Road in Atlanta. Burial will be in the Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.

"Sadie is trying to be strong and do the obituary and funeral arrangements, but she took it hard and she's not holding up too good," Darrell said.

From the Daily Post

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Dexter E. Wheelous dies of injuries from I.E.D.