Published in The Columbus Dispatch on 5/1/2009
WHEELER Natalie Howard Wheeler, 95, died peacefully at First Community
Village, Columbus, Oh., April 29, 2009. Predeceased by her husband Thomas B.
Wheeler and her daughter Ellen Dean Wheeler. She is survived by sister, Sylvia
Howard Hill; sons, Harvey A. Ford, Thompson H. Ford and Thomas T. Wheeler; five
grandchildren, Harvey A. Ford IV, Amy F. White, Emily F. Zibinskas, Christine F.
Mediamolle, Thomas C. Ford; seven great- grandchildren; and numerous nieces and
nephews. Born in Columbus, Oh., Natalie Howard graduated from Columbus School
for Girls, attended Ohio State University, The Columbus Art School, graduated
from Wittenberg University in 1959 and continued her academic pursuits with
graduate studies at Miami University and The Ohio State University. While in
Columbus she was employed by Ohio Bell and wrote for the Columbus Dispatch.
Writing for the Troy Daily News from 1957 to 1990 Natalie coauthored two popular
weekly columns "This and That with Tom and Nat" and "It Happened
Years Ago." From 1960 - 1973 she was a teacher for the Troy Public Schools.
Growing up in Columbus she discovered golf at age ten and on her seventeenth
birthday won the first of four Columbus Country Club Championships. Later in
Troy she was the City Golf Champion twice and won several women's and mixed
doubles Tennis Championships - attributing them to "good partners."
Natalie especially enjoyed golf trips to Scotland with her sons and her summers
at her cottage on Higgins Lake with her entire family. A memorial service will
be held at Trinity Episcopal Church, 60 South Dorset Road, Troy, Oh. on Friday,
June 19, 2009 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the
Higgins Lake Foundation, P.O. Box 753, Roscommon, Mich. 48653 or the Troy
Historical Society, P.O. Box 401, Troy, Oh. 45373. Arrangements handled by
SCHOEDINGER STATE STREET CHAPEL. Online condolences may be sent to www.schoedinger.com.
Provided by Computerized
Heritage Association.
All Rights
Reserved.
