WHEELER, Robert Loring, age 82, of Hampton, NH, beloved husband of Kathryn (Kit) Kelly Wheeler, passed peacefully at Exeter Hospital on September 23, 2018 after a brief illness. He was an entrepreneur and graphic artist with a long and creative career in business. Bob and Kit were married for 49 happy years.
Bob's artistic talent and drive propelled his first entrepreneurial enterprise in his early 20s when he co-founded AVP, Inc., one of the first companies in Boston to offer custom audio-visual presentations to business. Later in his career, Bob founded Modulus Exhibit Systems, a trade-show and graphics production firm that had a broad client base throughout New England.
Bob grew up in Concord, MA where the Wheeler Farm at Nine Acre Corner supported generations of his ancestors and inspired his avid interest in genealogy. In retirement, Bob worked with his aunt, Marian Wheeler, a well-known local historian, to piece together some of the family's unresolved ties to the small village in Cranfield, England. He and Kit visited and documented these interesting ancestral roots in a privately published book.
The son of the late Richard Payson and Pauline Goldthwait Wheeler, Bob enjoyed a close family life with his brother, David of Hollis, NH; sisters, Elizabeth Scannell of Chelmsford, MA; and Sylvia of Cambridge, MA as well as nephews Christopher and Jeffrey, nieces Jennifer and Wendy Belair. He was also held close in the Kelly family by Kit's brothers, Michael of New Hudson, MI, Sidney of Findlay, OH, and Scott of Westmoreland, NH, along with nephews Brett, Chris, Colin, Joseph Kelly, and nieces, Kate and Julie Kelly. Bob long enjoyed the deep friendship and support of a group of friends who modestly refer to themselves as "The Magnificent Seven". They include Brian Huckins of Northboro MA; Zeke Holland of Brunswick, ME; Richard McGowan of Dedham, MA; Lea Stabler of Merrimack, NH; Steve McKenna of Acton, MA; Dr. James Katz of Cambridge, MA; and Chris Spellman of Framingham, MA.
A memorial service will be held at First Parish (Unitarian) in Concord for family and friends at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Lung Association.