Wheeler Allen Gunnels was born in Opp, Alabama, on May 27, 1936, to James Lester Gunnels and Sara Lilla Senn Gunnels. Dr. Gunnels has devoted his entire career to improving the quality of life in his hometown. A product of Opp City Schools, Dr. Gunnels continued an already noteworthy academic career at the University of Alabama, receiving his Bachelor of Science in biology and chemistry. In 1961 he received his Doctor of Medicine degree and completed his externship with surgeons and obstetricians in Birmingham. The next year saw him complete his family practice residency in Columbus, Georgia. In 1963 he would establish the Gunnels Clinic, which would be an Opp fixture for thirty years.
During those thirty years, Dr. Gunnels delivered over three thousand babies and performed numerous surgical procedures, never once turning away a patient. While serving on the board of directors at Mizell Memorial Hospital, Dr. Gunnels helped oversee the construction of the hospital’s tower portion. After the death of hospital administrator Don Nelson, Dr. Gunnels served as liaison with Baptist Health, helping the hospital during a very difficult transition. He also helped establish industrial medicine programs at Covington Industries and
Opp and Micolas Mills. For more than thirty years, he has assisted school athletes during games and pre-season physicals. His interest in young people has also led him to perform physicals for the Special Olympics program.
Since his retirement, Dr. Gunnels has remained an active force at Mizell Memorial Hospital, now serving as its medical director. He has been instrumental in initiating many new services at the hospital including the Sleep Apnea Diagnostic Center, Nuclear Medicine services, 24-hour CAT scanning, MRI services, and several others. Working as a liaison between medical staff and the hospital, Dr. Gunnels helped place Mizell Memorial Hospital in the top 1% of hospitals nationwide with patient satisfaction. He continued his post-graduate education at the University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, and the University of California at Irvine and has used his learning to conduct community education programs through the hospital.
Dr. Gunnels has maintained an active career alongside an active church and civic life. He is a member of the First United Methodist Church, where he has served as chairman of the finance committee and as an administrative board member. He is a member of the board of directors at SouthTrust Bank of Covington County. Having served as president of the Covington County Medical Association, Dr. Gunnels has been a lifetime member of the College of Counselors–Alabama Medical Association–and a member of the Alabama Medicaid Board. A former member of the Opp Rotary Club, Dr. Gunnels served as president of the Opp Chamber of Commerce when it first organized the Opp Hall of Fame. Never forgetting his educational roots, Dr. Gunnels served on the local school board for two terms, during which time the superintendent’s office was built and plans for a new middle school were developed. He has been an active supporter of the Opp High School Choral Department, the OHS Marching Black and Gold, and the Covington County Junior Miss Scholarship Program. In 1991 the Alabama Legislature honored him for his thirty years of dedicated service to his community and state.
At the center of this incredible man’s life is the family he cherishes. Married to Betty Wise Gunnels, Dr. Gunnels is the proud father of two daughters, Jan Allison Gunnels and Julie Gunnels Nordeman. Julie and Doug Nordeman are the parents of Katherine Gunnels Nordeman, born March 9, 2000.
The number of lives this compassionate man has touched is inestimable. In the midst of Opp’s history Dr. Wheeler Allen Gunnels has walked: a healer, a leader, a seeker of better things for his town’s future. Dr. Wheeler Allen Gunnels died Oct. 14, 2012; His Remains are interred at the Family Farm in Beulah. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.
