A CHERISHED Isle of Wight author and librarian has died peacefully at the age of 92.

Jean Wheeler (nee McInnes) was born on June 22, 1928 in East Cowes to Scottish parents. The family relocated to Southampton in 1935, where her father was a draughtsman at a shipyard.

During the Second World War she was evacuated to Bournemouth for a short period prior to the devastating and untimely death of her father in a road accident in 1943.

Mrs Wheeler left school at 16 and worked in a dairy, a year later starting work as an assistant librarian at the University College of Southampton.

She loved her work, but left in 1950 to marry Ray, an engineering student from the Island, who she had met at the local methodist church social club.

The couple moved to London, where Ray was studying at Imperial College. Mrs Wheeler worked in an antique shop until their first child, Lesley, was born in 1952.

The following year the family settled in East Cowes, where Ray worked for Saunders Roe.

The couple subsequently had two more children – Jennifer in 1954 and Douglas in 1956.

In the early 1960s, when all three children had started school, Mrs Wheeler started a part-time job as a secretary at Watergate School, where she stayed for several years.

During this time she was an active member of the East Cowes Methodist Church, running the youth club and taking a Sunday school class.

Mrs Wheeler always wanted to return to library work and in the early 1970s she was taken on as a librarian at the IW College of Technology, where she completed her librarianship qualifications and was appointed Tutor Librarian.

Retiring aged 60 in 1988, she kept busy as a volunteer and member of the Ventnor Botanic Gardens, where she enthusiastically edited their newsletter for several years.

She was also a member of the Board of Governors at Cowes High School and a staunch supporter of East Cowes Heritage and the RNLI.

Since the age of six, Mrs Wheeler dreamed of writing a novel but said she had never had the time or right idea to pursue her ambition.

This changed in her late 70s when a visit to the IW Lavender Farm inspired stories that led to her debut novel, Touching the Past, published in 2010 when she was 81.

Also of great importance to Mrs Wheeler was supporting her husband Ray in the writing and editing of his many books.

Shortly after her 90th birthday, she decided to move into a care home and spent the last two years of her life at Cornelia Manor in Newport.

She died on January 18.

Mrs Wheeler was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She had three children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.