BOSCAWEN, N.H. – Ellen Thurston Wheeler died Monday, Jan. 17, at the Merrimack County Nursing Home in Boscawen, N.H. She had Alzheimer’s diesease.

She was born on Sept. 10, 1918, in Rumford, the daughter of Peter and Alena (Muraukas) Moskus.

She graduated from Mexico High School, class of 1936 and lived most of her life in Rumford and West Peru.

For many years, she worked for Sears Roebuck and Co. in Rumford.

After her retirement, she moved to New Hampshire and belonged to the Bradford Baptist Church, the Bradford’s Women’s Club, volunteered for CAP in Warner and served with Elderhostel in New England College in Henniker.

She enjoyed gardening, music, traveling and family gatherings.

She is survived by daughters, Villa Ramsay of Deering, Carole Hockmeyer of Berlin, and Brenda Trench of Meadville, Pa.; a foster son, Roger Akers of West Paris; siblings, Elizabeth Belanger of Mexico, Peter Moskus, and Josephine Dragoon of Rumford; grandchildren; great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husbands, Bernard Granville Thurston, who died in 1969 and Leonard Wheeler who died in April 2004; and a grandson, Mark Dirmitt.