Janis Ann âJanâ Wheeler, 83, Galveston, the matriarch of the Wheeler, Smith and Shepard families, passed away peacefully in her home on December 20 2020 surrounded by loved ones. She was born July 20, 1937, in Quincy, Illinois to the late Eugene and Alberta (Weichlein) Dickhoener, the eldest of four.
Jan and her family moved to Kokomo in 1939 and became parishioners of St Patrick Catholic Church. She married Robert Allen Smith on September 27, 1957 and started a family of four daughters, Deborah, Stephanie, Monica and Daphne. Robert passed away in 1968. Jan then married Mark Allen Wheeler on February 16, 1979. She received her degree in Elementary Education from Indiana University in 1979 and retired from Delco Electronics in 1993. In 1981, Mark and Jan became the parents of Christopher Wheeler.Â