{"id":145,"date":"2011-07-01T15:26:52","date_gmt":"2011-07-01T19:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/?p=145"},"modified":"2011-07-01T16:04:45","modified_gmt":"2011-07-01T20:04:45","slug":"jake-wheeler-a-remembrance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/jake-wheeler-a-remembrance\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Wheeler: a remembrance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jake<\/a><\/p>\n

Jake Wheeler: 1928 to 2011<\/h2>\n

John P. \u201cJake\u201d Wheeler died in January at the age of eighty-two. He retired from Hollins in 1997, after a distinguished career that spanned four decades. He taught in the political science department for most of those years but took time out to serve as dean of the faculty and dean of the college. He helped found the Hollins Abroad-London program and the master of arts in liberal studies, or MALS, program. For seventeen years, he was the \u201cfearless leader\u201d of thirty-five trips abroad for alumnae and friends. In 1991 he received the Sears-Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award. A few years before he retired, he was named College Professor, a title no one had held before or has held since. He received the Hollins Medal at commencement in May 1997.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, April 2, Jake\u2019s family and friends gathered at Hollins for a memorial service. As the program stated, Jake was specific about this service: \u201cI do not wish a funeral. However, I would not object to a memorial service at Hollins should anyone be moved to have one. One caveat: anyone who wishes to speak must speak on the topic \u2018My most humorous memory of Jake Wheeler.\u2019 That applies to offspring as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below are some of the stories shared that day. For more, view the memorial service video<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\nI saw a bit of Mr. Cocke in Jake Wheeler, who brought the abroad program to Hollins, and embodied Mr. Cocke\u2019s vision of the Hollins community. Mr. Cocke must surely have been smiling on the day we arrived at Professor Wheeler\u2019s political science class on his birthday, bearing party hats and Styrofoam containers filled with ice cream. Professor Wheeler promptly put on a party hat, asked for a container of ice cream for himself, and continued on with his lecture, pausing only to greet, with party hat on, a prospective student whose tour guide had brought her to the classroom\u2019s door.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014President Gray quoted this passage at the service. It is from the 2011 Founder\u2019s Day address, \u201cGuarding the Dreams of the Dreamer,\u201d by Nancy Newton \u201cNewnie\u201d Rogers \u201982.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\nWhen I was brand new at Hollins, I encountered Jake talking with Wayne Reilly [political science] and Bob Bordeaux [education] about an article in The Roanoke Times<\/em> dealing with moonshine in Franklin County.<\/p>\n

Up to this point I had spent my whole life in such urbane metropolitan centers as Washington, D.C., Santa Barbara, California, and Casper, Wyoming, and so I had, as I mentioned to them, nothing whatsoever to add to the conversation.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks later Jake came to my office with a mason jar filled with a clear liquid. I discovered that this fluid was able to thin paint, cure scabies, and preserve small vertebrates.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t drink that alone,\u201d Jake cautioned.
\n\u201cNot to worry,\u201d I replied, \u201cI don\u2019t drink by myself.\u201d
\n\u201cWell, it\u2019s not that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just in case you need someone to take you to the hospital.\u201d
\nI looked from jar to Jake and Jake to jar, nodding silently.
\nJake added as he left, \u201cWelcome to Virginia.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014Joe W. Leedom, John P. Wheeler Professor of History<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\nIt is impossible to summarize Jake Wheeler\u2019s contributions. His many offices and achievements are a matter of record and so perhaps I can be forgiven if I just note several of the roles he played with me.<\/p>\n

As my former teacher at Middlebury College:<\/em> \u201cGee, I just don\u2019t remember you.\u201d
\nAs my mentor:<\/em> \u201cWhen you are in a hole, the best way to get out is to stop digging.\u201d
\nAs my colleague:<\/em> \u201cDon\u2019t give up; finish the book.\u201d
\nAs my host:<\/em> \u201cThe Fish House Punch is pretty weak.\u201d
\nAs my tour guide [on one of Jake\u2019s trips]:<\/em> \u201cDid I mention that there are no bathrooms on your floor?\u201d
\nAs my dean:<\/em> \u201cWe have to find some way to reward her effort.\u201d
\nAs my friend:<\/em> \u201cWayne, sometimes I think you are the brother I never had.\u201d<\/p>\n

I miss him.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014Wayne G. Reilly, professor emeritus of political science<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John P. “Jake” Wheeler died in January at the age of eighty-two. He retired from Hollins in 1997, after a distinguished career that spanned four decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-spring-2011"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions\/155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}