Brad Wheeler died in Tamarac, Florida on September 16, 2024, at the age of 73 after a short battle with cancer. The son of Jay J. Wheeler and Florence (Shields) Wheeler, he was born on June 22nd, 1951 in Monticello, New York. Brad grew up in Liberty playing (and excelling in) many sports - baseball, football, softball, and golf in particular - and enjoying summers swimming, fishing, and hiking around nearby Hunter Lake. Brad served in the U.S. Navy from 1969 to 1973 as an Electrician’s Mate, including service on river patrol boats in Vietnam and as a “Tin Can Sailor” on the Gearing-class destroyer USS Holder. He earned his GED during his Navy service. After his Honorable Discharge from the Navy, Brad studied Industrial Safety and Security at Ohio University in Washington Courthouse, Ohio. He received his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Bunker Hill Community College in Massachusetts. 

While living in Massachusetts, Brad was in charge of facility security at the Harvard Arts Museums, and also served as a Special State Police officer at the Fuller Mental Health Center. 

Kind, thoughtful, and hardworking, Brad was always ready to offer a helping hand when needed to family, friends, and neighbors. In his later years Brad continued to enjoy golf, although he could never decide on playing right or left-handed (he could do both equally well!). He used his characteristic attention to detail in various crafts such as pyrography and building highly detailed book nooks, and playing board games, especially Dungeons & Dragons. Brad is survived by his wife of 46 years, JoAnne Liesenberg Wheeler, at home in Tamarac, FL; son Adam living in Tamarac, daughter Erika in Seattle, WA, and his brothers Tom (in Glenwood, Iowa) and Kort (in Liberty, New York).