About Us

My name is Paul Wheelock and I am a lifelong resident of the Leelanau/Grand Traverse area.  My late wife Becky and I met back in January of 1985, my senior year in high school.

 I spent the first ten years of my life in Traverse City while Becky lived in Leelanau County her entire childhood.  My father was born and raised on the Old Mission Peninsula and after a few years in the “big city” he’d had enough.  And out to the country it was.  My mom was a “city girl” (TC) but was quite excited about the idea of getting away from the town she was born and raised in and enjoying the peace and quiet that only Leelanau can offer.  I went on to graduate from Glen Lake High School.  Becky’s mom and dad have similar stories.  Her dad was born and raised in Leelanau while her mom was also a TC city girl.  Becky, her dad and 4 of our six sons have all attended and graduated from Suttons Bay High School.  Becky and I were married in 1987 and worked very hard to raise 6 wonderful sons, all of whom are married (last one this summer 2020) and doing both their mom and I very proud.  We lived in Leelanau County most of our married life together, with only a brief stint in Grand Traverse early in our marriage. 

                                                                 

The Wheelock name goes back to Benzie County to about 1862 when Addison Wheelock and his wife, Ann McBride Wheelock, my great great grandparents, moved to Elmira Township and were one of the first families to homestead there.  Addison acquired lots of land around the Lake Ann area and actually became the first sheriff of Benzie County in the late 1860’s.  Lake Ann the lake, as it’s known today, was named after Ann McBride Wheelock and was originally just called Ann Lake.      

 

 photo by Sally Arnold

 Becky’s maiden name was Boone and the first Boone to live in Leelanau County was her great great grandpa, William “Doc” Boone.  He and his wife Susanah moved to Bingham from Indiana in 1878 with the purpose of building railroads.  He helped establish a sawmill in Bingham in 1879 as well as the building of a plank road to carry the lumber down  from Carp Lake (Lake Leelanau) to the Grand Traverse Bay at Bingham.  He only lived a few more years and died in 1889.  Susanah died May 1st, 1927 and she is buried in Bingham Cemetary.    The Boone family has been here ever since.                                                             

photo courtesy Library of Congress/Detroit Publishing Co (somewhere in Michigan in late 1800’s)

Our entire family has worked in the service industry in one capacity or another and we’re very blessed to be able to join ranks with some of the finest business’s Michigan hosts.  We are truly a “local” family business and we are working on our second decade providing pest control services for over a thousand customers in the Leelanau and surrounding area. We would be honored to offer our services to you as well.

We have had the great privilege of having our sons come on board and work with us as they became of age. Tim and David have been the heart and soul of the operation since losing their mom in 2017. All of our sons are/were certified applicators and have helped us out part time here and there over these past several years.  What a joy and a privilege it is to work as a family toward a common goal. As of the fall of 2021, Tim and David will be moving on to other adventures and the business will be back solely in the hands of myself, Paul.

Becky was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in May of 2009.  She battled unbelievable odds and persevered through extraordinary pain and suffering due to the brutality of treating cancer.  In the end it proved to be too much for her body to handle.  She made it to our 30th wedding anniversary and two weeks later we celebrated with a vow continuation ceremony and reception.  It was 3-1/2 days later that she breathed her last and parted this earth for heaven.  The impact she has had on this business is immeasurable and her legacy will live on in our six amazing sons.  She will be missed by many but no one more than the seven of us.