Sheila Patricia Arpe

Sheila spent more than 25 years as a teacher in Duxbury’s elementary schools. She began substituting at Alden and Chandler when she first moved with her family to Duxbury in 1985 before taking a full-time position as a Kindergarten teacher at Chandler. She later switched to first grade, and remained at Chandler until her retirement in 2012. She stayed with Duxbury’s schools long enough to see the children of some of her earliest students pass through some of her final classes.

Sheila was born in Fitchburg, MA, to Robert and Dolores O’Brien in 1946, then spent most of her childhood in Newton. She graduated from Regis College, then married John E. Arpe, Jr., in 1970. They spent the first several months of marriage in Europe during John’s naval service, Sheila and a group of fellow Navy wives following their husbands’ ship from port to port across the Mediterranean.

Following John’s discharge, Sheila and John settled in New York City, where Sheila began her teaching career in the Bronx, and their first child was born. A few years later they returned to Europe for John’s banking career, where they lived in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom for nine years.

Upon returning to the United States, they settled in Duxbury, where they raised their three children while Sheila taught in Duxbury’s schools and earned a Master’s degree from Bridgewater State University. In the early 2000’s they relocated to the South End neighborhood of Boston to enjoy their empty-nest and retirement years.

Following Sheila’s cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2024, Sheila and John moved to a retirement community, first in Peabody, MA, then later to Philadelphia, PA, to be closer to family. Following treatment and a brief remission, Sheila’s cancer returned, and she began hospice care in late 2025.

Sheila is survived by her husband, John; her three children Colin, Charlie and Kevin; grandchildren Penelope, Cassandra, Luma and Niall, and three younger sisters, Deidre, Kerry and Siobhan; her older sister Sherrin passed in 2010.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, 24 January, at 11am, at Nickerson-Bourne Funeral Home: 40 MacArthur Blvd, Bourne, MA. All are welcome.