Roberta P. Wheeler

Roberta P. Wheeler, 83, resident of Milford, NH, died on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at the Community Hospice House, Merrimack, NH, she was surrounded by her loving family. 

She was born on January 13, 1942, in Framingham, MA, a daughter of the late Robert and Esther (Doherty) Hill. Roberta was raised and educated in Framingham. She attended St. Stephens parochial school for her primary grades, then Lincoln Junior high school where she won letters in basketball and field hockey then on to Framingham High School where she graduated 1960. In her junior year of high school, she met Bill Wheeler the man who would become her husband 5 years later and he took her to her Junior Prom starting a lifelong relationship. After Bill finished 4 years on active duty in the Navy, they got engaged and married the following year in February of 1965. The couple had three children, Catherine, Patricia and William. In 1978, they bought a house in Hudson NH and raised their family.

Roberta worked at Montgomery Wards, in Nashua then on to JC Penney’s where she rose to department supervisor. She retired in 1999 to help raise her first two grandchildren part-time at her home. When her husband retired, they took a “fifteen-year vacation” on Cape Cod. They enjoyed time spent visiting their children and grandchildren at their homes in New Hampshire, New York, and South Carolina as well as at their Cape Home and at their Disney Time share in Orlando. 

As the grandchildren grew and started their careers and college, she and Bill were able to get more involved at Our Lady of the Cape in Brewster. Roberta joined the Ladies guild, became an Ecumenical Minister, and volunteered in the Our Lady Thrift Shop. Father William asked her to completely repair and renovate The Thrift Shop which she then managed for several years. During this period, she also managed The Council On Aging Thrift shop.

She and Bill retired back to New Hampshire in 2017 buying a condo in Milford. They were looking forward to continuing with their volunteering, but it was not to be.

 n addition to her parents Roberta was predeceased by her sister Joanne Halnon.

Survivors include her loving husband, William Wheeler of Milford, NH, her children, Catherine and Brian Shaughnessy of Milford, NH, Patricia and James Kindl of NY, William and Chantell Wheeler of Center Barnstead, NH, four grandchildren, a brother, John and Grace Hill of MA and many close friends.

SERVICES: Calling hours will be held on Sunday, January 26, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the Smith & Heald Funeral Home, 63 Elm Street, Milford, NH 03055. A mass of Christian burial will be held on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at 11:00 AM in the St. Patrick Church, 34 Amherst Street, Milford, NH 03055. Burial will be in the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne, MA. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory or Roberta can be made to SHARE Outreach, 1 Columbus Ave, Milford, NH.