Ophelya Wheeler was the 3rd of 13 children of James W. Wheeler and Lena Caroline Von Keller. Like all of her brothers and sisters, she went by her middle name. The explanation for this middle name usage may have been lost, as recent questioning of nieces and nephews of Ophelya find no clear answers.

Kiowa County Signal newspaper (Greensburg, Kansas), Apr. 2, 1914, pg. 1;
Report of Seeds Tested at South School
Cane seed, Farmer's Elevator, tested by Ophelia Wheeler, 25 per cent dead, 74 per cent weak, 1 per cent strong.

Ophelya attended Emporia College and taught grade school in Greensburg. Her younger sister Neva was one of her students. Neva would later teach school there in Greensburg, and Ophelya's daughter Lois would teach school in Kansas before leaving for California.

Ophelya married Raleigh Puyear (pronounced as prayer) on October 8, 1921 in Dodge City, Kansas.
From the Kiowa County Signal newspaper (Greensburg, Kansas) Oct. 13, 1921;
Wheeler-Puyear
A wedding which surprised many of their friends, was that of Miss Ophelia Wheeler and Rollo Puyear, Saturday, October 8th, at Dodge City.
Mrs. Puyear is an alumnus of K.C.H.S. and has taught three successful terms of school in different districts in the county, and, at present, is teaching the fifth and sixth grades at the Puyear south school. Mrs. Puyear is the oldest daughter of J. W. Wheeler and is well known in this vicinity. Mr. Puyear is the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Puyear of this city and is a mechanic at one of the garages.

Ophelya and Raleigh had 3 children;
1. Lois Arlene Puyear (1926-2007) Lois was born March 26, 1926 in Greensburg, Kansas. Lois is shown in Wheeler family history notes as being married to; Luther V. Hopkins, John E. McKirahan and Donald Clifford Davis. (Note that the order of these marriages is not shown.) Lois died on March 4, 2007 at the age of 80 years, 11 months and 6 days. Her last residence was Santa Cruz, California, zip code 95060. (Social Security Death Index.) This Wheeler information also shows that Lois had a son, John Wayne Hopkins, born in Syracuse, Kansas in 1949. John married Nancy Jo Ballard in Reno, Nevada.
2. Loren Puyear (1932-2012). Loren was first married to Margie Barnes. They eventually moved to an upscale neighborhood in Castle Rock, Colorado. About this time Loren developed a sled that was widely used for tractor pulling competitions. Loren and Margie had 3 children, two of which were Lisa and Kenneth. Loren remarried and next lived in Arvada, Colorado. Loren was buried in the family plot with his parents.
3. Linda Puyear (1941-1999). Burial in family plot in Johnson Cemetery.

As a married couple Raleigh and Ophelya first lived in Greensburg, Kiowa County, Kansas. Raleigh's parents were also living there at that time. By the early 1930's they lived on their farm located just east of Johnson, Kansas and last lived at 307 S. Main Street in Johnson, Kansas where Raleigh continued as a very successful wheat farmer. They were members of the First United Methodist Church in Johnson, a landmark known by all in the area. A lady of flowers, Ophelya and Raleigh's home was showplace of all types of flowers and plants, a botanical garden if you will, in this western Kansas town. A real student and expert on the subject, Ophelya frequently recited the common name as well as the scientific name of her flowers and plants! Family members say that roses were her favorite, and a 1966 photo included here showing Ophelya and her sister Neva's grandson Kenny Barnes in Ophelya's backyard surrounded by pink roses certainly makes that argument clear.

An entire article was written about Ophelya Puyear entitled, "Western Kansas Gardener," written by Editor Betty Lou Denton in the publication "KANSAS Home and Family" on April 15, 1967. The article included two photos of Ophelya, a photo of the Puyear home showing some of her flower garden, a photo of her roses planted on the hospital grounds, and photos showing her planting and gardening techniques. The article reads, "The W. Puyear's backyard in Johnson is a rainbow of color in the spring, summer and fall. Roses have bloomed as late as Thanksgiving.
Look around at the beauty spots you find in many of the small towns in Kansas and you will see the work of women such as Mrs. W. Puyear of Johnson, the wife of a retired wheat farmer and a member of the local Garden Club. Mrs. Puyear's enthusiasm for gardening and flowers seems never-ending. Her house and yard are filled with a wide variety of familiar and little-known plants, each a friend she calls by name and knows so well.
In just a morning visit to Mrs. Puyear, she introduced me to over 60 different flowers, herbs, and vegetables, not to mention the innumerable varieties of each individual plant.
Mrs. Puyear is not content to just raise plants others have started. She enjoys propagating her own. Almost any plant can be started from a slip during the blooming time when the plant is neither too soft nor too hard, Mrs. Puyear says. At times she also works from seed pods; however, not all plants started from seed pods are as nice as those started from slips. Whatever method she is using, Mrs. Puyear consults her almanac and tries to follow the recommendations she finds.
If Mrs. Puyear has one specialty, it is roses. These she started in 1957 or 1958 and has become especially adept at starting bushes from slips.
A picture explanation of how to plant a rose slip is shown on this page.
Once the new plants are well started, Mrs. Puyear's special pleasure comes from sharing her plants with others. This may be with individuals or in Garden Club projects such as the flower bed on the hospital grounds. across the street from her home or Fairgrounds beautification. The caption for a photo here confirms that many of the roses used in the flower bed on the hospital grounds which the Johnson Garden Club is developing came from Mrs. Puyear's garden.
Wheat mulch is used throughout Mrs. Puyear's garden to keep the ground moist. Although some people object to the looks of wheat straw, she likes it because to her it represents their living. She usually turns the straw to kill any seedlings which start from grain left in the straw.
Watering is done by means of raised sprinklers which are set to come on automatically in the night. Established roses are watered four times a week for about 25 minutes, beginning at 1:20 a.m. This method could not be used in sections of the state where mildew is a problem, but for Stanton County, it works fine.
Unlike most rose gardeners, Mrs. Puyear does not spray for insects and rose diseases. Weeds are controlled by a special 'push' hoe which she designed herself. It was made by a blacksmith who welded a steel blade (mower, shovel cultivator, or other cutter) to the back of a three-tine pitch fork which had the center tine removed. Later, Mrs. Puyear was surprised to find a similar hoe pictured in a garden magazine. This 'Dutch' or 'push' hoe destroys weeds with less effort than a regular hoe and does not 'hack up' the ground."

It is nice that this 1967 article recognized Ophelya for her skills and accomplishments as a master gardener. She must have loved it. She obviously deserved it. In plain talk, people like her add beauty to our world. The 1967 article certainly added fame to what we would say was one of her many titles, "Ophelya Puyear, gardener extraordinaire."

Around 1967 Ophelya was visiting her sister, my grandmother, Neva at their home in Wichita. Parked prominently in the driveway was this big car, Ophelya's. I recognized it years later from stock photos as a 1967-68 Cadillac Eldorado. I walked around her car that day taking in the obvious - that this was no ordinary car. It is written that the Eldorado was radically redesigned in 1967. No joke. This car had the size, styling and hidden headlights to set it apart from other cars. In the 70's I bought a 1966 Cadillac Coupe De Ville. I had to have been thinking about Ophelya's car when I bought it. (Larry E. Barnes)

Ophelya was also known for her cooking. One of her recipes, apple cake, is still used today (2015) by her niece, Vada (Miller) Barnes and is a favorite of many in the family including Vada's grandson, Logan Barnes, son of Kenny (and Sheri) Barnes mentioned above.

A Wheeler family reunion was held at Sedgwick County Park in Wichita on June 24, 2017. At least 30 attended including Raleigh and Opelya's grandson James Puyear and his wife. Ophelya's great nephew, John Barnhart, son of Marvin and Lucille Barnhart, said that Ophelya carried herself with good posture and used proper manners. She was quite "Victorian." Good description. She was also a person that people (and family members) respected. And with good reason. She was a role model and was active in helping to make her community a better place. Ever drive through a neighborhood or town that's run down? They don't have people like Ophelya that make a positive difference. She was quite a lady.

From The Johnson Pioneer, Johnson, Kansas, dated Nov. 21, 1974;
"Ophelya Puyear Rites Today - Lena Ophelya Puyear, 75, died Tuesday at the Stanton County Hospital. She was born August 7, 1899 in Brenham and was married to Walter R. Puyear, October 8, 1921 in Dodge City.
She was a member of the United Methodist Church, Hospital Auxiliary, Rebekah Lodge, Order of Eastern Star, Mothers Club, Jolly Dozen Club and Hoe and Show (Grow) Garden Club.
Survivors include: one son, Loren, Johnson; two daughters: Mrs. Lois Davis of Saratoga, Calif., and Miss Linda Puyear of the home; one foster son, Arthur Harold Card of Hawaii; four brothers; Oren Wheeler of Los Gatos, Calif., and Wendell, Peter and Louie, all of Greensburg; three sisters; Mrs. Orlo (Neva) Miller, Mrs. Marion Barnhart, both of Wichita, and Mrs. Oneita McFarlen of Sierra Vista, Ariz.; a nephew, Louis Mace, of Johnson; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 2:00 p.m. today at the Methodist church with the Rev. Wayne Findley officiating. Burial will be in the Johnson Cemetery. (Phillips Mortuary is in charge.)
Memorials may be made to Retarded Citizens Fund in care of the Johnson State Bank."

The singers at the funeral service were Rev. and Mrs. Jack Gilbert. The pallbearers were Kaku Akagi, Don Ruth, Paul Plummer, Jr., Andy Anderson, W. R. Smith and Kenneth Anderson.

Card of Thanks - Johnson Pioneer
"To friends of our beloved Ophelya Puyear, we, her family, wish to gratefully acknowledge all your prayers, visits, gifts, flowers, cards and letters. Your never failing expressions of love and sympathy from her first stay in Wesley Hospital in Wichita, in March, until her death on November 19, will always be gratefully remembered. A special thank you to all who brought food in, and those who helped in so many special ways. Also for the memorials to the Retarded Citizens Fund.
Mrs. Lois Davis & Family
Linda Puyear
Mr. Harold Card
Mr. & Mrs. Loren Puyear & Family
Mr. & Mrs. John Hopkins & Family
Mr. Willis Mace
Mr. & Mrs. Lewis Mace & Family"

"Sympathy
Our sympathy and prayers are extended to the family of Ophelya Puyear who died Tuesday, November 19. Ophelya will be remembered for many years to come as a strong member of the church. Bringing flowers and arranging them for the altar was her specialty. We will miss her."