Darl wheeler

January 29, 1933 - March 21, 2025

Celebration of Life
Sat. March 29 - 10am
Opportunity Christian Fellowship
1313 S. Pines Spokane Valley

Darl Wheeler lived a long, full life shaped by hard work and a deep commitment to family and community. He wasn’t a man of big speeches or dramatic gestures. He believed in showing up, putting in the time, and doing what needed to be done. Over the years, he became a familiar figure in the Spokane Valley and Otis Orchards—dependable, unshakable, and quick with a dry comment or a bit of practical advice.

Born in Rugby, North Dakota in 1933, Darl grew up during the Great Depression, one of ten siblings in a family that made do with very little. In the mid-1930s, the Wheelers moved to Grand Coulee, where everyone pitched in—collecting wool for quilts, helping with sheep, doing whatever work came their way. Eventually, they moved to Spokane, where Darl attended West Valley High School. He worked before and after school, played football, and helped support the family. It was just the way life was.

During his senior year, he met Alice Stevens. They married not long after graduation, and she was by his side over the decades for the rest of her life. Together, they raised six children, ran businesses, and weathered all the ups and downs that came with choosing a life of self-employment and self-reliance.

In 1952, Darl was drafted into the Army. He trained for Korea but was ultimately sent to Germany when the war ended just before his deployment. When he returned home, he met his daughter Patricia for the first time—she was already 18 months old. Shortly after, Darl and Alice moved to St. Maries, Idaho, where he managed a small dairy. But a bigger opportunity came when an 800-acre farm he knew well came up for lease back in the Valley. With little money and no guarantee of success, Darl and Alice took the leap.

They started with cattle and feed, just barely breaking even that first year. But over time, the operation grew—corn, hay, grain, and most notably, potatoes. The whole family helped. Darl worked every part of the business: planting, irrigating, harvesting, washing, packing, and delivering. At the height of it, he was known around town simply as “The Potato King”—a nickname he’d never would have given himself, but one that stuck.

As the years went on, farming got harder. Prices dropped. Costs rose. The well dried up. And when the banker they’d partnered with passed away, his sons gave the Wheelers an ultimatum: buy the land or move. So, they started over—again.

They found 40 acres in the Valley that Darl described, only half-joking, as “a rock pile.” But they bought it. They kept growing what they could and opened a small fruit stand on the property. It started as a seasonal operation but turned into something steady, familiar, and appreciated by locals. For a time, they even ran a second stand. Later, when the fruit business slowed, Darl launched a pallet-building/ recycling operation—because there was always work to be done, and he was never one to sit still.

Darl and Alice built their life together on shared labor, loyalty, and devotion to family. They took pride in being able to provide—not just for their kids, but for neighbors, friends, and even strangers who needed a hand. Darl had a habit of extending credit on the honor system, offering second chances, and helping people get back on their feet. He never made a show of it. He just did what he felt was right.

His success wasn’t flashy, but it was real. He raised a family that loved and respected him, stayed married through every kind of season, and built a life from the ground up more than once. He wasn’t one to dwell on the past, but he carried it with him—lessons learned in the hard years, told through stories, Spokane history, and the kind of advice that came with a little bit of dirt under the nails.

Darl didn’t seek recognition. He just wanted to get the job done—and to know the people he cared about were taken care of. In that, he succeeded beyond measure and anyone that knew him is in some way better for it.