New Leader Charges Into Activities
What you will hear him say is, "Make a nice day." By changing a word in a trite phrase, Wieler, in effect, empowers people to take hold of their own destiny and make the day pleasant not only for themselves but for others. It has to do with taking on responsibility. And responsibility is something he himself has never shirked. "I always throw in my 2 cents worth and with that comes responsibility," he said. Wieler was installed last month as president of the Realtors Association of Indian River County for 1997-98. It will be his responsibility to stay on top of changes in the real-estate industry and guide the association through changes and issues as they pop up during the year. To take on the job, Wieler, 63, said he has scaled back involvement in other groups and organizations so he can stay focused on the needs of the association. Those who know him aren't surprised by that show of commitment. "He's all business," said Milt Thomas, director of economic development for the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce. Thomas has worked closely with Wieler on chamber committees. "He's very intense," he said of Wieler. "When he has an assignment or mission, he really takes it to heart. Whatever he becomes involved in, he is the primary advocate of it." Whether it's playing tennis, which he does at least five times a week, or serving on an advisory committee to the County Commission, which he has done for four years, Wieler is known for giving his all. Even when it comes to donating blood, Wieler does it with a sense of purpose. He'll proudly tell you that he's donated more than 31 gallons of the life-saving liquid, the equivalent of a keg of beer. "It's something that I've got that I can give away," he says simply. Friends say his sense of discipline comes from having a military background. A broker salesman for Coldwell Banker Ed Schlitt Inc. Realtors, Wieler is also a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. He has extensive experience in international trade and once ran for state office on the governor's ticket. Wieler got his nickname, Rip, from friends in college who called his hometown of Catskill, N.Y., 'Rip Van Winkle country," As a child, Wieler showed academic prowess early on. When he started elementary school, he was already ahead of other students his age, so he skipped second and fourth grade. "My mother did a lot of home schooling," he said. "I owe it all to her. But numbers were always very easy for me." His early advancement allowed him to enter college by the time he was 16. Too young yet for the military career he was eager to pursue, he entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., on partial scholarship for a year before moving on to the U.S. Naval Academy. "It helped me grow up," he said of his time spent at Rensselaer. "It kept me from getting too cocky. I was with people who could do calculus in their head and I couldn't even spell calculus." Excelling in academics as well as on soccer and lacrosse teams, Wieler graduated from the Naval Academy in 1955. He took a commission in the Marines and spent 20 years serving all over the United States and Far East. "I joined the Navy and saw the world. I just did it in a green uniform instead of a blue one," he said. Meanwhile, he got a master's degree from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. It's been more than 20 years since Wieler retired from the Marines and he says he looks at that as the middle third of his life. Since 1975, he has been active in the business world and spent 15 years in Tampa with companies such as First Florida Bank, Hertz Corp. and the cargo company Uiterwyk Corp. He has had a Florida real-estate license since 1980 and a broker's license since 1981. Fluent in German, he also worked for a German software company, softlab gmbh, as well as being a trade consultant to the state of Yucatan, Mexico. Because of his grooming in the international trade arena, Wieler became chairman of the Tampa Bay International Trade Council in 1989. He took the year off to do the job right and the council that year sponsored 50 functions in 52 weeks, he said. Wieler had been married for 32 years and had three children before his first wife died. It wasn't long after being reintroduced to a high-school friend, Edna Caskey, that he started making plans to move to Vero Beach. "The promise of marriage brought me to Vero Beach," he said. "And I have to say, that was a very pleasant transition." Real estate offered him a quick way to become involved in the community and establish ties, he said. "I think he is a commander in the real-estate field," said Chip Green, retail consultant for WGYL radio station. He has known Wieler since he moved to the area and served as best man at Wieler's wedding. "He's somewhat of a teacher, if you will, to a lot of people that he's around," Green said. "I think he saw when he came to Vero Beach a vision of what was going to happen here. In his industry I would put him as a visionary." Shortly after moving to Vero Beach, Wieler was asked by Florida gubernatorial candidate Marlene Woodson-Howard to run on her ticket as lieutenant governor in 1990. The candidates lost the election and Wieler isn't eyeing any other office at the moment, unless drafted, he said. Meanwhile, he remains active on County Commissioner Carolyn Eggert's economic development committee and for the last two years he served as chairman of the chamber's new commerce committee. Wieler is a proponent of the planned industrial park west of Interstate 95 on State Road 60 and hopes to be instrumental in attracting clean industry to the county. He also helped organize a Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel of retired executives for the chamber of commerce. "I think we're going to have controlled, intelligent growth," he said. As a number cruncher, he publishes his own newsletter about the Indian River County real-estate market, which he sends to about 125 subscribers on a quarterly basis. "He's in tune with what might happen tomorrow as far as decision-making and problem-solving. He's open-minded," said Carol Hawk, executive vice president of the Realtors Association. "He's always increasing his knowledge. He doesn't live in yesterday. He lives outside the box." Behind all the business acumen and the stern military veneer is another side of Wieler, however. One of his most recent passions is an antique car collection held in trust by the Caskey family. Since remarrying, Wieler has learned to service and maintain the stable of nine classic cars from the 1930s,'40s and'50s and he and his wife are active in a number of car-clubs. "I clean them. I keep them running. And I get to drive them," he said. His everyday car is a 1989 Chrysler Fifth Avenue. A published poet, Wieler shows an appreciation for the organic as well as the man-made. His colleagues at Coldwell Banker know him for bringing in fresh-cut roses that his wife grows at their John's Island home. He places the blooms in various bud vases around the office. It's a prime example of how Wieler follows his own advice, making it a nice day for himself and those he meets along the way. End of Press Journal Article
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