City Departments
Hall of Fame Members
Len Wheeler
Inducted 1997
Leonard Wheeler was born in Worcestershire England on 24 Apr 1899 the son of Enoch Wheeler. He first became involved in the Scouting Movement in 1910 in England when he joined the 1st King's Norton Troop. This was the start of a forty year association with the scouting movement which led to be known affectionately as "Mr Scouting" not only in the South Waterloo District of the Boy Scouts of Canada where he made most of his contributions to scouting but in many other parts of Canada and the United States as well.
Mr Wheeler left England in May 1911 with his family and moved to Galt. He hoped to continue his scouting with a local scout troop but the small troop that had been organized and led for a short time by A. Marriott had disbanded shortly before Mr Wheeler arrived in the town. Lacking local scouting opportunities, he continued his involvement in scouting through correspondence with the 1st King's Norton troop in England. In 1912 he organized a small patrol of six boys in the Craigie Lee region of Galt. By the following year the troop had grown to two patrols and George A. Dobbie granted them the use of a small shed at the rear of his residence on Concession St. to hold their meetings. By 1914 the troop had grown to four patrols but had still had no proper scoutmaster. They were led instead by Mr Wheeler who was the senior patrol leader. In 1916 Mr Wheeler received his first warrant of appointment as assistant Scoutmaster.
In November 1916, Mr Wheeler enlisted in the Canadian Army and served overseas with the Canadian Army Medical Corps before being transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. During Mr Wheeler's absence the scout troop that he started dwindled to nothing and had to be revived upon his return in May 1919. The revived troop consisted of only four boys but grew rapidly from that small start under his dedicated leadership. To make sure that scouting in Galt was going in the proper direction, Scouter Wheeler took all the leadership courses offered by the movement including his "Gilwell". He rose through the ranks from Scoutmaster to become Assistant District Commissioner, in 1935, and finally to Executive Commissioner of the South Waterloo District Headquarters. He held that position until his death on 16 Jan 1950. Beginning in 1925, Scouter Wheeler conducted numerous training courses and District camps throughout his Scouting career and influenced the lives of thousands of boys and leaders with whom he came into contact.
It was Scouter Wheeler's dream for the local scouting association to own a district camp site dedicated to the whole scouting program of Cubs, Scouts and Rovers. That dream was realized in 1936 when the Peacehaven camp site, located near Drumbo Ontario, was purchased. Scouter Wheeler died on 16 Jan 1950 at Westminster Hospital in London Ontario and is buried in Mount View Cemetery.