Jeanne Wheeler

After a long, loving vigil, we lost our mother, Jeanne D. Wheeler, age 83, of Goffstown, NH.

She moved from this world on April 18, 2026, having lived with dementia for eight years. Jeanne shone with goodness and believed in her family with a mighty power. She baked the best banana bread and hosted epic holiday gatherings. Her pie recipes are counted among the treasures in The Wheeler Family Lore. She was a dream of a mother to her four children, a cherished grandmother to her five granddaughters, and a pinch-hitter of a mom and grandmother to many of their friends. Her heart was full of empathy, grace, gratitude and optimism, which she shared with the people around her every day.

She was not without vices. Every year, she bought too many Christmas gifts for her family, and she stockpiled birthday cards, ready to ensure her heartfelt sentiments were a perfect match for the beloved recipient.

Jeanne grew up and raised her family in Goffstown, NH. She was the only child of Lea and Jean (later changed to John) Dubois, who had both come from Canada to the U.S. not yet able to speak English. They carved a life here in a house along the river downtown. Her mother never drove a car. Her father, who worked in the mills in Manchester, died when she was 10. From meager means a big, bright soul grew.

After graduating from Villa Augustina, a private Catholic school for girls, Jeanne worked as a secretary in Manchester. One day on the bus to work, she met a skinny young man who was joking with a child on the seat beside him, trying to convince the youth that he was the mayor. Jeanne would marry that man, Robert L. Wheeler. He would never be mayor, but he was a selectman in Goffstown for four decades and a member of the N.H. House of Representatives, where he rose to the position of House Majority Leader. Jeanne was a champion for her family. She volunteered at her children’s elementary school, was part of the St. Lawrence Church community where she taught Marriage Encounter classes, and she supported her husband during his political career. After prioritizing raising her children, Jeanne worked for Raymond A. Cloutier’s law offices and for optometrist Dr. Norman Michaud. Both businesses were owned and operated by families cherished by the Wheeler clan. To her dying day, Jeanne’s relationships with the Michauds and the Cloutiers were of great value to her and enriched her life. She then went on to manage the office for her oldest son at Wheeler, Ring, Dolan & Dupuis, an accounting firm in Manchester. She reluctantly retired at the age of 75.

Jeanne loved wintering in Dunedin, FL and spending summers at Lake Winnipesaukee. Though never a sports enthusiast, she became a dedicated fan of Central High School’s basketball team, which her son David coached. After the death of David’s wife, Gail, Jeanne helped raise his two daughters, Alexa and Megan. They were the oldest of Jeanne’s brood of grandchildren, all of whom became the brightest lights in her later life. 

Jeanne is survived by her children and their spouses: David and Katie Wheeler of Chester, NH, Denise Wheeler of Portsmouth, NH, Diana Wheeler and Peter Mann of Clinton Corners, NY, Robert Wheeler and Toni Rose DeLuca of Croton-on-Hudson, NY; her grandchildren Alexa Wheeler of Dover, NH, Megan Wheeler of Manchester, NH, Ella McGrail of Albany, NY, Lea and Sydney Wheeler of Croton-on-Hudson, NY, her grandson-in-law, Ezra Cohen of Dover, NH, and her ex-husband, Robert L. Wheeler of Dunedin, FL. She is pre-deceased by her daughter-in-law Gail Coderre Wheeler.

After outings of all kinds, even through years of memory loss, Jeanne liked to say, yes, the event was good, but the company was the best. If she were here to look back at her life now, we think she’d share that saying one last time.

A private celebration of life will be held this summer.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the charities her daughters have dedicated decades of their lives to, commitments that Jeanne was deeply proud of. The organizations are Orbis International, which treats and prevents blindness globally, and Gather, which fights hunger in the N.H. Seacoast area.