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Lois married Dr. Thomas O. Wheless in 1945 and they made their home in Louisburg, NC. She was elected to the Louisburg Town Council in 1969 and was continuously reelected until her retirement in 2005. At the time of her retirement, she had served the longest consecutive tenure of any woman in the state. Upon her retirement, she was honored by the Governor for her extraordinary service with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state’s highest civilian honor. Lois was also inducted into the state Republican Party Hall of Fame. The Town of Louisburg honored her by naming its meeting hall the Lois Brown Wheless Council Room.
In addition to her responsibilities on the Town Council, Lois was Chair of the Kerr-Tar Council of Government and a member of the Louisburg Zoning Board, the League of Women Voters and was Director of the N.C. Consumers Council and the North Carolina League of Municipalities.
Lois also served on the Board of Visitors and the Board of Trustees for Louisburg College and was named Louisburg College Alumnus of the Year in 1976. She was also past president of the Franklin Memorial Hospital Guild and was a member of the Franklin County Medical Auxiliary and the Louisburg Garden Club.
Lois was predeceased by her husband, Thomas, and is survived by her son, Thomas O. Wheless, Jr. and his wife, Cherie, of Eagle, Idaho and by her daughter, Kay Wheless Woodward, and her husband, Rick, of Atlanta, Georgia, and grandchildren Michael, Jonathan and Erin Wheless and Eleanor and Harris Woodward. In addition, she is survived by her sister, Roberta Barnes, and brother, Oliver Brown.
A memorial service will be held in Louisburg at a future date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Person Place Preservation Society, PO Box 135, Louisburg, NC 27549.
Paid Obituary