Welcome! Jean and Gerald Wheeler, Innkeepers
Thank you for visiting. We hope to see you soon!
About Jean:
Jean complements her innkeeping by taking distinctive pictures of the uniquely beautiful Maine coast. Her favorites hang on the Inn walls and are available for purchase in two sizes. She came “home” to Deer Isle by way of the seashore village of Bellport, New York where she was born and grew up, as well as Colorado, Pennsylvania and Montreal, Quebec where she lived for 20 years and met Gerald, her musician husband.
Jean swims in the ocean in front of the house during the spring, summer and fall months, and enjoys invigorating sessions in her scull during the remarkably calm morning or evening hours. She is a past President of the Deer Isle-Stonington Chamber of Commerce as well as The Island Heritage Trust. Most importantly, she would say, she is a mother of four and a mother to eight, including Gerald's four children. Jean was born in New York and attended Northfield School, Syracuse University, University of Pittsburgh, McGill University and Montreal's Thomas More Institute.
About Gerald:
Gerald was born and educated in England and received his musical training at the Royal College of Music, London, where he studied piano, organ, theory and composition. His teachers included Harold Darke and Herbert Howells. He graduated in 1952 with diplomas in piano performing and teaching, and in 1956 received a Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists. In 1996 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Theology by the Diocesan Theological College in Montreal.
In 1953, Gerald was appointed assistant sub-organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, and was in charge of all its music during the choir’s post-Coronation tour of North America. In 1956 he accepted the position of organist at St. Matthew’s in Ottawa, Ontario, where he remained for nine years. In 1965, Gerald became Director of Music at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral in Montreal, Quebec, a post he held for 31 years. In 1996, he accepted the position of Director of Music at St. Francis by the Sea episcopal church in Blue Hill, Maine, where he oversaw the 2001 installation of a new 2-manual mechanical organ built by the Montreal builder Karl Wilhelm, Inc. He retired from St. Francis in January 2004. Gerald is currently Music Director and Organist at the First Congregational Church in nearby Blue Hill.
Dr. Wheeler was a performer with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra domestically and internationally, and has recently acted as interim organist for churches in Washington, D.C., Buffalo, NY, and Boston, MA. He often plays piano recitals on his Steinway at the Inn.