Louise Greeley Wheeler

Wheeler began her journalism career as a reporter at The Westerly Sun, where she wrote obituaries and local news while learning the craft of reporting in a mid-century newsroom that still relied on linotype machines and inked galleys.

She later moved to New York and joined NBC during the early years of television news, working on the network’s news programming as broadcast journalism was still taking shape. During that period she crossed paths with many notable figures of the era. While working as a writer for a television program, Louise facilitated and wrote one of John F. Kennedy’s first national televised interviews.

She went on to become editor of National Business Woman Magazine and later worked with the National Federation of Business and Professional Women, helping shape coverage of professional women and their expanding role in American business and public life.

Her career reflected a generation of women who entered national journalism and communications roles at a time when the field was still overwhelmingly male, helping open doors for women in media and public affairs.

Wheeler moved to McLean in 1973, where she and her family became longtime members of the Washington-area community. She later served as a presidential appointee at the United States Information Agency during the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, continuing a career that bridged journalism, communications and public service.

Her late husband, Clinton F. Wheeler Jr., was a Madison Avenue advertising executive who later served as director of public affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development. She was the proud mother of four children: Lisa Leiter, Leslie Hortum, Rainey Foster and Clinton F. Wheeler III.

Even in her later years, Wheeler remained deeply intellectually curious about journalism, language and the evolving media landscape — often asking thoughtful questions about emerging technologies and the growing influence of artificial intelligence on communication

A celebration of life is planned for August 19, 2026, her 100th birthday.