John D. Wiley

SOUTH LONDONDERRY - John D. Wiley, of South Londonderry, died on Jan. 15, 2017.
He was born in South Londonderry on April 11, 1925, the son of Carl H. and Edith (Davies) Wiley. John attended local schools in South Londonderry and graduated from Burr and Burton Seminary (now Academy) in 1943.
After high school, John enlisted in the United States Navy and served on the USS Midway on the flight deck until his honorable discharge in the summer of 1946. John returned home and joined his father in the family auto mechanic business at Wiley's Garage in South Londonderry. He married the former Patricia Wilder on July 23, 1955, and they took up residence in the Wiley family home on Main Street in South Londonderry.
John worked at the garage six days a week until his retirement in 2005. He especially enjoyed working on older cars. His pride and joy was an immaculate, award-winning, 1947 Plymouth Deluxe that he and his wife, Patty, showed at area car shows and drove in many local parades. In addition to his work at the garage, John was active in South Londonderry's Champion 5 Fire Department and served as an engineer and firefighter from 1976 to 2005.
John appreciated simple routines that included daily phone calls from his sister-in-law, Kay, to discuss the weather in Vermont versus the weather in Connecticut, spending summer mornings mowing his lawn on his trusty John Deere and afternoons on his front porch watching the "traffic" on Main Street and waving to friends and neighbors. Despite his physical limitations in the past few years, he was able to do the things that brought a smile to his face right through the fall of his 91st year.
John is survived by his wife, Patricia Ellen (Wilder); his son, John D. Wiley Jr. and his wife, Claudia, of Landgrove; his grandchildren, Kaitlyn Lewis and her husband, Spencer, of Rexford, NY, Leah Dames and her husband, Zackere, of Albany, NY, Caleb Wiley and his wife, Sarah, of Manchester, VT, and their mother, Jacqueline Wiley, of South Londonderry.
He is also survived by his sister, Arlene Hill and her family, of Springfield, VT; and his sister-in-law, Katherine Farina, of Stamford, CT, and her children, Katherine Uttal of Washington Crossing, PA, and Susan Germain, of Chershire, CT; as well as two nieces from his sisters who predeceased him, Marion Wiley and Geraldine O'Connell Foster. The family would also like to thank the many people that helped take care of John and Patty, especially their caregivers, Joyce Merrow and Deb Blackmer, the staff at Our House Too in Rutland and nurses and volunteers of the Rutland Area Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice.
A memorial service celebrating John's life will be Saturday, Feb. 11, at 1 p.m. at the Londonderry Town Hall at 139 Middletown Road in South Londonderry, VT. Memorial contributions may be made to the Champion Fire Company 5, P.O. Box 2101, South Londonderry, VT 05155.