JOSEPH S. WHEELWRIGHT

WHEELWRIGHT, Joseph S. Boston sculptor Joe Wheelwright died on the evening of September 28 after a determined but peaceful struggle with cancer. He was 68. He died in the candlelight at his home in Dorchester, attended by his wife and two daughters. A longtime shaper of stone and wood, Joe co-founded the Boston Sculptors Gallery and the Humphreys Street Studios, two important collaboratives for local artists. His own work was daring in scale--his pieces could be monumental or miniature--and was wryly imaginative. His best-known public art is "Sleeping Moon" at Peabody Square, Dorchester. At the DeCordova Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Joe carved a boulder into a great inquisitive head, one ear cocked to the ground, which he called "Listening Stone." Joe was a provocative and pithy man, fond of quoting his relative Henry Thoreau. Although he lived in the private world of the artist, he had an extraordinary number of friends, whose affection he gracefully returned. Apart from his unwavering love for his wife, Susan, Joe reserved his deepest feelings for New England's rocks and trees and, above all, for the moon, which had fascinated him since childhood. Joe will be buried privately in Vermont. There will be a memorial service in Boston later in the fall. Details will be posted at the website joewheelwright.com and at www.dolanfuneral.com, where you may leave your thoughts about dear Joe.

View the online memorial for Joseph S. WHEELWRIGHT