ATLANTA — Pete Wheeler, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service, died Tuesday as the longest-serving state agency head after holding the job for more than six decades.
Wheeler had led the agency dedicated to Georgia’s military veterans — currently estimated at more than 752,000 — since 1954. Even after health issues forced him into medical leave last summer, Wheeler continued to play a role in leading the department by phone. A spokesman, Jon Suggs, said Wheeler died early Tuesday at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. He was 92.
“His impact on the state has been tremendous,” said Randy Goodman, commander of the American Legion in Georgia.
Pete WheelerThe Department of Veterans Service owns two nursing homes for war veterans in Augusta and Milledgeville and oversees two veterans’ cemeteries in Milledgeville and Glennville. The department, which had a $40 million budget in fiscal 2014, also helps military veterans with paperwork and other requirements needed to receive federal benefits, such as health care and military pensions, as well as state assistance such as tax breaks and special license plates.
Wheeler was a veteran himself, having served in the Army as a stateside infantry instructor during World War II. He joined the department of Veterans Service as director of its education division in 1949. Five years later, he was leading the agency.