The Wheeler Family

-- The family: Arthur and Erville Wheeler, and their son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Jeanette Wheeler. The younger couple's son, Jordan, is 4. Mark is one of 10 children; the senior Wheelers, married 48 years, have 27 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

-- Newest thing in common: When Arthur and Mark decided they wanted part-time jobs, both ended up at Seattle's Providence Medical Center. Arthur, 72, retired from working at the state Department of Corrections, then "loafed around for about two years" before deciding in 1989 to get a part-time job. Mark, an attorney, changed careers to teach second grade at Zion Preparatory Academy. In 1990 he got a summer job in Providence's legal department, where he still works 16 hours a week, along with teaching.

-- Getting a job: Art, who regularly exercised at Providence's gym even before he was hired, was working out one day alongside the director of pharmacy when the director said, "I found a job you'd be good at." Art has been a 20-hour-a-week pharmacy assistant ever since. He delivers medications to nurses' stations, and vows "I'll be doing this as long as I'm able."

-- Staying able: Both father and son work out, with Art putting in gym time five days a week on a stairclimber, a stationary bike and weights. As a result, at 72 he can bench press 120 pounds. "My dad is in better shape than I am," jokes Mark. When they see each other at work, they hug. "I hug my boys; I'm not ashamed of that," Art says.

-- Family standards: While Art says he had no master plan for raising his children other than obeying the law and "being a decent human being," Mark says both his parents exhibited a lot of qualities he wants to pass on to Jordan: love, compassion, always being there and standing for what is right. Although Art and Erville raised Mark a Catholic (the senior Wheelers are active in St. Therese), Mark and his family attend Zion United House of Prayer. "I support him in that," Art says.

-- Strengths: Both men give a great deal of credit to their wives. Although Art and Erville have different interests, each gives the other freedom to enjoy them. Thus Art, who likes jazz, goes to Jazz Alley without his wife, and Erville, who likes to travel, has Art's blessing to go to Hawaii without him. Jeanette, a cosmetologist, "is really the strength for our family," says Mark. "We like to go for walks together. . . . She's my best friend."

-- The last word: "We're devoted to each other," Art says of the entire Wheeler family. "We really believe in the family; it's an important unit to maintain," says Mark.

If you know of good Family Portrait candidates, write to at Portrait, c/o Scene, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. Please include a daytime phone number.