Pioneer Merchant Don D. Wheeler Passes Away
A long-time Tacoma businessman collapses unexpectedly during a friendly visit on South M Street.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
While chatting pleasantly with Frederick Goetz at the latter's residence, 407 South M St., where he was paying a visit, Don D. Wheeler, a pioneer merchant of this city, was seized with heart failure last evening and died in a few minutes. The end came peaceably and quietly, and physicians state that Mr. Wheeler experienced no sensation other than that of fainting when he passed away. Don D. Wheeler was 64 years old, and had been a resident of Tacoma for 25 years. He had been in active mercantile business until the last year, when he retired.
“The end came peaceably and quietly, and physicians state that Mr. Wheeler experienced no sensation other than that of fainting when he passed away.”
The death of a pioneer represents the shifting generation of Tacoma’s early settlement. 407 South M Street remains a residential street in the Hilltop area, illustrating the continuity of these neighborhood blocks.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.