The Director’s cut is 1:30 hrs. in length. It includes much more about the individual lives of the Wheeler sisters. I interview my grandmother on my mother’s side (Patricia B. Hutchings née O’Leary) and my two great aunts in 2007 about their lives, family lore, and local history. All three would pass by November 2013.
The Wheeler sisters are Bernice O’Leary née Wheeler, Naomi Jean Farrington-Helky née Wheeler and Helen Nevius née Wheeler. They grew up in Pearl, Illinois, descended from European settler stock; the Wheeler family laying roots in the area in the 1820’s.
They talk about the flu pandemic of 1918-20, the civil war, Jesse James, and Old Dan Holler. The Wheeler sisters also cover Pearl Harbor, WWII, and other tidbits as I tour the back roads of Pearl, Illinois and visit our family homestead.
Cousin Douglas O’Leary provided the scanned images and identified the individuals in the photos used in the video.
