Sheila McPhelin Mutchler

Sheila McPhelin Mutchler passed away surrounded by family on January 12, 2026. Born June 24, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York, to Edmund and Kathryn McPhelin, Sheila and her younger sister, Paula, spent their early years in a tight-knit, boisterous Irish Catholic community known as the Brooklyn Marching and Chowder Society. Sheila recalled it as a time of rollicking family parties, filled with laughter and singing. The family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, when Sheila was 10, but retained their Brooklyn roots, reuniting with relatives and friends each summer at Breezy Point on Long Island.

In Cincinnati, Sheila attended Ursuline Academy, where she was senior class president. She graduated in 1960 and returned to the East Coast for four magical years at Trinity College, forging lifelong friendships with Terry Reilly, Ann McGee Gillespie, Mary Beth Jacobs, and Mimi Conway. She was voted junior and senior class president and graduated in 1964. Today, her Trinity friends remember Sheila as a “bright light.” After college, Sheila and her friend, Anne, set off for a year-long adventure in Grand Junction, Colorado, as volunteer elementary school teachers with the Extension Society. There, Sheila learned to ski, a hobby that became a lifelong passion.

Returning to Cincinnati, she married her high school sweetheart, David Mutchler, in 1967. The couple moved to St. Louis, where David pursued graduate studies, and Sheila taught fifth grade. In 1968, David’s research for his Ph.D. thesis took them to Santiago, Chile, where Sheila gave birth to their first daughter, Mamie, in 1969. A few months later, the family moved to Washington, D.C., and soon settled in the city’s Chevy Chase neighborhood. Eleven months after Mamie was born, Meghan arrived. Sheila relished her time as a young mother, and her boundless enthusiasm for activities, games, and outings earned her the title of “Camp Counselor” among her friends.

When her marriage to David ended in 1974, a friend observed that since Sheila liked museums so much, she should work in one. That year, she landed a part-time job in the National Museum of Natural History’s Discovery Room, a new interactive exhibit for children. By night, she earned a master’s degree in Art History at George Washington University.

The Discovery Room was the first of many jobs Sheila held at the Smithsonian. In 1975, she took a full-time job at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, making the museum’s exhibits and programs more accessible to the public. The next year, though deathly afraid of bugs, Sheila gamely accepted the directorship of the Natural History Museum’s Insect Zoo. Taking on the role of the “bug lady,” Sheila transformed the Insect Zoo into a major draw for visitors and launched the exhibit onto the national stage, conducting newspaper interviews and carting live tarantulas and scorpions to morning news shows.

In 1981, Sheila became director of special exhibits at the National Museum of Natural History, overseeing the Smithsonian’s largest gallery space showcasing exceptional exhibits from around the world. Drawing on the collections of national museums in China, Japan, South Korea, and India, among others, Sheila produced blockbuster exhibits that traveled to museums across the United States. Larry O’Reilly, the Natural History Museum’s former assistant director of exhibits, recalled, “Sheila's natural abilities, her intelligence, and her excellent diplomatic skills turned these programs into highly recognized accomplishments and created excellent relations with our colleagues internationally and nationally.”

Smithsonian Magazine profiled Sheila in 2021 as a female groundbreaker at a time when the field was dominated by men. Following her time at the Smithsonian, Sheila worked as exhibits director at the Denver Natural History Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, and the Florida International Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Sheila loved to travel and, with her second husband, Mike Orceyre, moved to Paris in 1988. In Paris, she learned French, memorized the layout of the Louvre, and became an expert on the construction of Gothic cathedrals. During her four-year European adventure, Sheila happily traipsed across the continent, skiing the French Alps and connecting with her Delaney cousins in Ireland.

As curious as Sheila was about the world, she was even more interested in people. Vivacious and pathologically outgoing, talking to strangers was a favorite pastime, winning her an eclectic group of friends, as well as her second husband. In each place Sheila lived, her new friends became an adopted family. She kept in touch with them over the miles and decades and enjoyed hosting them at her home in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Sheila was devoted to her family and loved spending time with her seven granddaughters. They remember their She She as full of fun: never too old to host a tea party, conduct wacky science experiments, or build a sandcastle at the beach. Indeed, Sheila had an affinity for silliness of the best kind. She wasn’t afraid to break into song in a crowd or skip down a New York City street. Sheila believed that life was a celebration and turned minor holidays into remarkable occasions. St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day called for balloons, streamers, and special treats, and whenever Flag Day rolled around, she could be found leading an impromptu parade with Old Glory.

Sheila was a wonderful mother to Mamie Wilson (Jeff) and Meghan Deerin (JB) and grandmother to seven wonderful granddaughters: Lilly, Lucy, Tess, Elle, Grace, Lola, and Carolyn. She adored her sister Paula Zipfel (David) and was fun-loving Auntie Sheila to Katie Leavy (David), Devon Madison (David), Kirk Zipfel (Kristy), Michael Zipfel (Liz), and Erin Holian (Dan). Sheila cherished her two stepdaughters, Deirdre Orceyre (Sean), Morgan Hanzlik (Dennis), and her step-grandchildren, Zachary, Luke, and Austin, and foster grandsons, Gregory and Liam.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, January 31, at 11 a.m. at The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Chevy Chase, Washington, DC. Interment private.

Donations can be made to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund at https://curealz.org/giving/