Nashville resident Wilma M. Wheeler, 96, widow of Emerson W. Wheeler, died Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, at Brown County Health and Living Community.
She was born on Nov. 11, 1920. Her birthday was always celebrated as a national holiday. Mrs. Wheeler was the daughter of the late Inez Travers and Alfred Huck; sister of the late James and Paul Huck.
Mrs. Wheeler is survived by daughters, Brenda (Frank) Zody of Nashville, Annalee May of Ellettsville and Jennifer (David Green) Long of Columbus; grandchildren, Suzannah (Ian Levett) Zody of Nashville, Sallianne (Marc Anderson) Zody of Morgantown, Jason (Kirsten) Long of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Erin (Jason) Janow of Ashville, North Carolina, Sarah May (Danny) Gautier of Bloomington and Joe May of Los Angeles, California; stepgrandchildren, Evan (Missy Sumner) Green and Sean Green, both of Indianapolis; great-grandchildren, Alexander and Sophia Long, Herschel Janow, Chloe Gautier and Everett May; and stepgreat-grandchildren Kathryn and Elizabeth Green. Wilma is also survived by a half-sister, LaVern Tepool of the Evansville-Posey County area; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews and their descendants, primarily in Posey County.
A true child of the Great Depression, Mrs. Wheeler was known to family and friends as someone who could always come up with a creative, effective and inexpensive solution to any of life’s everyday problems. She was a gifted cook and seamstress, known for her wonderful holiday dinners and exquisite sewing and handiwork. In earlier years she had boundless energy and tackled neighborhood projects as wholeheartedly as she did family ones, whether it was a huge family vegetable garden, the cleanup of the Gredy Stone Head general store after a devastating flood or the razing of a barn for the Rex Kritzer family of Van Buren Township.
After Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler moved from the Stone Head area to Nashville in the late 1960s, Mrs. Wheeler was a founding member of Psi Iota Psi philanthropic sorority. She worked with Joyce Haughey in a Nashville shop dressing handmade teddy bears.
Mrs. Wheeler was a world traveler, making three trips to Hawaii and numerous trips to the British Isles and Europe. Highlights for Mrs. Wheeler were a visit to the gravesite of Princess Diana, during which she had a personal conversation with Diana’s brother; a New Year’s Eve party at the Ritz Carlton in London; a tour of Queen Elizabeth’s castle in Edinburgh, Scotland; and tours of Versailles, the Vatican and Pompeii.
Mrs. Wheeler was cremated, as was her late husband, and her ashes will be buried beside his in Greenlawn Cemetery.
In keeping with her wishes, there will be no services.
