Martha Jane Butler Wheeler

Martha Jane Butler Wheeler, of Warren, passed away during the COVID pandemic on December 8, 2021, in Poland, Ohio. She was born November 17, 1922, in Portsmouth, a daughter of the late J. Edward and Alma Jeffords Butler.

Martha was a 1941 graduate of Saint Mary’s High School in Portsmouth. She had served as a WAVE in the US Navy during World War II and was awarded the American Area Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal for her service. Martha had been an active member of St. James Catholic Church in Warren and later, St. Leonard Catholic Church in Louisville, KY. She married Charles E. Wheeler on February 13, 1947, and together the couple had nine children.

She is survived by eight of her children, Barbara Evans (Jim), Mary Ellen Wheeler, Charles Wheeler, Jr., (Mitzie), John Wheeler, Lynda Hammons (Jim), Beth Gillam (Russell), Dr. Sally Wheeler (Doug Amlung), and Laura Vivien (Mark); a brother, John Edward Butler, Jr; 10 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and many other family members.

In addition to her parents, Martha was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Charles E. Wheeler, Sr.; infant son, Joseph Wheeler; and her sister, Eleanor (Walbright) Shaw.

A Memorial Mass and Celebration of Life will be held at 10 A.M. Saturday, May 13, 2023, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church under the direction of the Ralph F. Scott Funeral Home of Portsmouth. Interment for Mrs. Wheeler and her late husband, Charles, will be in Greenlawn Cemetery. The James Dickey Post #23 American Legion will conduct military rites.