Obituary: Lorna Wheeler

July 22, 1941 – June 24, 2024

July 5, 2024

Lorna Wheeler, 82, passed away on Monday afternoon, June 24, 2024, in Morrisville. She was born on July 22, 1941, in Burlington, the daughter of the late Ray Herbert and Jean Ardelle (McCuen) Shepard. She was previously married to David P. Russell, Thomas Algiere, and Brian Wheeler.

Lorna Wheeler, 1941-2024. Courtesy photo.

Lorna grew up in Stowe and graduated from Stowe High School in 1959. She attended the Sheldon Academy of Beauty Culture in Burlington and then worked at Billie’s Salon in Morrisville. She and her young family moved to West Lebanon, New Hampshire, then to White River. They spent 12 years in Rhode Island, and in 1977 she returned to Vermont and settled in Waterbury. 

Lorna began her career in public safety in Waterbury. She worked first as a crossing guard and in 1978 she became a part-time police officer with the Waterbury Police Department. She attended and completed training at the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford in 1979 and she became the first female full-time police officer on the Waterbury police force. In 1982, she was hired by the Town of Stowe Police Department, she again was the first female officer in that department. In 1996 she was offered the position of Chief Deputy with the Lamoille County Sheriff's Department. She also was the instructor for the DARE program (drug abuse resistance education) for four years in Stowe, Johnson, Elmore and Hyde Park. She retired from the sheriff's department in 2002. After retirement, she moved to Rhode Island for a couple of years, then returned to Waterbury and worked for her daughter at K.C.'s Bagel Cafe.

Lorna was a member of the Waterbury Ambulance Service and the Stowe Emergency Medical Service. In her free time, she enjoyed riding her motorcycle, music (in her early years she sang in a band); she loved the beach, stained glass projects, cooking, and home improvement projects. She was an avid reader. She also loved a good game of rummy and kismet!

She is survived by her children, David P. Russell II and his wife Sheila, Kyle Lee Russell and her partner Buffy Garrand, Debra J. Russell, Kelly Lynn Russell and her partner Jude Jacobson, Niki Kay Walker; her only nephew Seth Travis Shepard and his wife Monica Shepard with their son Nathanial Shepard. She had nine grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, along with extended family. She was predeceased by her brother Ray H. (Chips) Shepard in 1985 and grandson Joshua David Douglass in 2000.

Please join the family on July 9, between 5 and 7 p.m. at Perkins-Parker Funeral Home in Waterbury for a time of visitation to celebrate Lorna's life. For those who wish, memorial donations would be appreciated if made to the Waterbury Ambulance Service. To send online condolences please visit perkinsparker.com.