New wheels a boost for Waukegan vet
His old car has more than 200,000 miles and engine trouble, so Frederick Wheeler Sr. has had to rely on neighbors to get him to work and the grocery store.
Visiting relatives in Chicago has been out of the question, the risk too great for his creaky 1998 Chevy Cavalier.
“We can’t really depend on that car,” said Wheeler, a single dad and Navy veteran who shares a modest apartment in downtown Waukegan with two sons.
“First, it smokes like crazy. It overheats and starts rattling,” Wheeler said of his old ride, which he can’t afford to fix. And that has been just the latest issue in Wheeler’s long journey to right himself and his family.
On Friday evening in Mundelein, he got a needed boost, courtesy of the national Recycled Rides program and an array of local businesses that donated time, parts and repairs to convert a wreck into a new ride.
In a ceremony at CARSTAR Mundelein, Wheeler received a fully refurbished Toyota Rav 4 complete with a big green ribbon and the necessary paperwork. It wasn’t a surprise, as he has known about the pending gift for about a month, but it was an emotional day nonetheless.
“You guys just restored this family — you just don’t know how much,” an admittedly choked up Wheeler told a gathering of supporters and contributors to the project.
The wreck was donated by California Casualty as one of several simultaneous donations made throughout the country. CARSTAR is a member of the National Auto Body Council, which operates Recycled Rides as a community service project.
Jeanne Silver, co-owner of CARSTAR Mundlein, coordinated the local effort, which she described as a labor of love. She said a family’s ability to provide for itself increases by 45 percent if it owns a vehicle.
“When a person can’t get to and from work, it makes it so difficult to hold down a job.” she said.
Marian Rodriguez, marketing representative for CARSTAR, looked to Lake-McHenry Veterans and Family Services for worthy recipients, and Meredith Wood, a senior therapist with the organization, immediately thought of Wheeler, 48, who served in the Navy from 1989 to 1992.
Wheeler said he served on the USS Antietam guided missile cruiser — the first battle group to occupy the Persian Gulf during the Iraq invasion of Kuwait. Since those days, he has faced many challenges but his kids remain first in mind.
“I guess the military taught me never to quit. These guys are my inspiration,” he told the gathering.
According to Wood, Wheeler has been saving every nickel to move to a more child friendly location.
“They’re just a wonderful family and he’s just a wonderful dad,” she said. I knew that the car was put on hold because he truly wanted to get them to a better neighborhood,” she said.
“He’ll do anything. He’s a hard worker. He’s a single dad and he gets no help.”
Wheeler said he grew up dodging street gangs in Chicago but “managed to survive.”
He admits to having had some tough times since getting out of the Navy, including living in a shelter and a period of drinking, drug use and depression.
But he worked through it and was awarded full custody of his two sons, Frederick Jr., 13 and Feroz, 11, who joined him Friday.
“When I met him, I literally bawled hearing his story,” Rodriguez said.
Wheeler has worked in food services at Great Lakes Naval Station the past three years and wants to get back to school. The car will restore a sense of independence, he added.
“It’s something that will be with us for a lifetime,” he said earlier Friday. “My kids will be telling this story to their grandchildren someday. This is huge.”