Don Wheeler

Don Wheeler, an accomplished architect who made his mark on Los Angeles and Santa Monica, sadly passed away after medical complications in June of 2022.

Don originally hailed from the East Coast, growing up in Leominster, Massachusetts. He joined the military, and while serving in the Air Force, he discovered he had a knack for spatial problem solving, draftsmanship and design work. Wanting to continue this path, he put himself through architecture school at the Boston Architectural College where he studied and worked with many notable teachers, including Josep Llu?s Sert, Dean at Harvard and a contemporary of the Bauhaus. After graduation, he worked at the noted Boston firm CBT, assisting in the renovations of the Pine Street Inn, a Boston landmark known for its pioneering support of the homeless and indigent.

Don moved to the West Coast in the late seventies and adopted Los Angeles as his home. He loved Santa Monica especially and lived there for many years.

His architectural practice in Santa Monica spanned over forty years; working as an independent in his own firm, as half of Spiess/Wheeler Partners with close friend Greg Spiess, and at various local firms like RTK, founded by former Santa Monica Councilman and Mayor Herb Katz. He was responsible for a number of buildings in the area, both residential and commercial, and worked on many projects to benefit the homeless community and persons with disabilities.

One of his first projects when landing in LA was to serve as Project Architect with Kamnitzer Cotton Vreeland Architects on the competition-winning Promenade Plaza across from the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. And his dedication to the homeless continued with his pro bono work with longtime activist Shirley Quarmyne and her Queue-Up organization.

When he founded his own office in Santa Monica, Don became very involved in the redevelopment of the downtown Santa Monica area. He was a local fixture at Planning Board hearings and the Building Department and served prominently on the Board of Directors at the onset of the renovations to the Third Street Promenade.

Over the years, he worked on numerous projects in the area, most notably the Pacific Court mixed-use complex on the southeast corner of 5th St and Santa Monica Boulevard, signature restaurants like Bikini and Real Food Daily, and office and commercial property renovations like the Bayside Arts Building on the Third Street Promenade. He enjoyed all of his projects and was particularly proud of his innovative design work on the Oldsmobile garage loft conversion that became the 18th Street Arts Center. In his later years, Don continued to work on commercial and restaurant properties all over Los Angeles, including the Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas and Ye Olde King's Head in Santa Monica (also one of his favorite hangouts), and continued to dedicate his time to making accessibility improvements for the disabled at commercial properties and restaurants throughout the region.

Don loved listening to music and dancing at local haunts like Harvelle's in Santa Monica and for years was an active member of the darts team at Ye Olde King's Head. He performed in various groups and in jam sessions, playing guitar and later learning the Djembe drum. He loved to share the story that he started his architectural practice in the "yellow house" behind the Santa Monica Greyhound Bus Station that was mentioned in the rock history book No One Here Gets Out Alive as the place where the Doors used to rehearse. He was an avid photographer, artist, and gourmet cook, and enjoyed visiting art museums, watching basketball and tennis, and biking and roller skating at the beach.

If you were to ask him to define himself, though, Don would tell you that first and foremost he was an Architect with a capital A. It was his true vocation and he felt very lucky to have worked on such a variety of projects with so many talented people.

To fulfill one his last wishes before he passed, some of his ashes were scattered from a hot air balloon above the vineyards of Temecula, a trip he was hoping to take for his 80th birthday. In addition, a service to commemorate his time in the Air Force took place at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in Westwood, where he was also interred, and a small memorial was held at Ye Olde King's Head in Santa Monica.

Don leaves behind a son and daughter and a grandchild along with an extended group of family and friends.

We will miss him, his sense of humor, his enthusiasm, and his creativity, and we hope he is at peace.