ALLENDALE, Mich. — A Grand Valley State University scholarship has been created to honor Richard Wheeler, the South Haven native who died last week while battling wildfires in Washington state.
The Richard Wheeler First Responder Memorial Scholarship will be available to students who are dependents of those who have fallen as first responders, including firefighters, police officers and paramedics, according to the university. GVSU said the amount of the scholarship “has not been clarified.”
Wheeler, 31, graduated from GVSU in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in natural resource management, the university said in a release. He was working for the U.S. Forest Service near Twisp, Wash. when he and two other firefighters were killed after their vehicle became engulfed in flames.
KCPQ identified the other two men as 20-year-old Tom Zbyszewski and 26-year-old Andrew Zajac.
The firefighters were based out of Methow Valley in north-central Washington. KCPQ reports that they were battling the Twisp River Fire, which is part of an 80,000-acre fire in Okanogan County.
Wheeler was a fourth-generation firefighter. Officials with the South Haven Fire Department tell FOX 17 that Wheeler’s father, grandfather and great grandfather were all firefighters in South Haven.
Starting Monday, GVSU lowered flags to half mast for 30 days in Wheeler’s memory.
