Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Crowder Wheeless, (US Army Ret.) 69, of Brevard, NC died on Saturday, May 18, 2013 at Duke Hospital surrounded by his family in love. Like the soldier he was, he fought the overwhelming odds against cancer. A funeral service will be held at First United Methodist Church in Brevard, NC on Friday, May 24 at 2:00 pm. He will be interred at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. The family will receive friends Thursday evening from 6:00pm until 7:30pm at the funeral home. Col. Wheeless had a military career of service in the US army for 20 years. He graduated from North Georgia College as a Distinguished Military Graduate. He was a Jump Master with the 101st Airborne Unit at Ft. Bragg making over 100 jumps. From Ft. Bragg, he was assigned to the First Infantry Division in Vietnam. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation medals for his performance. Following Vietnam, Col. Wheeless was selected for communications training at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey where he also earned his MBA. He attended Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Following graduation, he was assigned to the Army General Staff at The Pentagon where he held positions with Operations Directorate and Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was twice awarded the Defense Meritorious Medal for his service in The Pentagon. After retirement from the U.S. Army in 1986, Col. Wheeless was a division chief for Advanced Systems Development (ASD) in Arlington, VA, an information technology support contractor primarily supporting the Department of Defense in The Pentagon for 24 years. In 2010 he retired to the beautiful western NC Mountains in Brevard enjoying frequent family gatherings, his new Brevard friends, hiking and golf. Upon diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia he created a blog called "Conquering AML" to chronicle his experiences. (dougwheeless.blogspot.com) Col. Wheeless is survived by his wife of 43 years Jane Manley Wheeless a native of Griffin, GA and his three children, Amy Wheeless Peters of Huntersville, Camilla Frances Christopher of Cleveland, GA and Isaac William Wheeless, II of Asheville; sons-in-law Kevin Peters and Scott Christopher; four grandchildren, Julia and Sara Peters and Laurel and Clayton Christopher. He is survived by his brother L. David Wheeless and sister-in-law Jeanie Wheeless of Roswell, GA; brother and sisters-in-law Taylor and Anne Manley and Gail Hammock of Griffin, GA. and dear friends like family Joyse Witheridge of Brevard and Alison Witheridge of Encinitas, CA. Col. Wheeless is preceded in death by his infant son Douglas Crowder Wheeless, Jr. and his parents Isaac William Wheeless and Henri Frances Crowder. Arrangements are being made by Moody-Connolly Funeral Home of Brevard. Memorial donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.