Margariete Montague Wheeler, 49, NIU associate professor of mathematics, died Saturday in Chicago of heart failure.

Wheeler was born Dec. 10, 1938, in Oakland, Calif. She attended Mills College in Oakland and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in teaching in 1961. She taught in the Oakland public school system for eight years before receiving a Ph.D. in mathematical sciences at the University of Wisconsin in 1971. Wheeler then served for two years as an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Wyoming before coming to NIU in 1973.

Wheeler was an NIU associate professor for 15 years and was active in the teacher education program of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, as well as serving as a member of the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, where her research was nationally recognized.

John Selfridge, chairman of the Department of Mathematical Sciences said, “She was one of the most valuable members of our faculty and she will be missed very much.”

Wheeler was also an active member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb, where she served as a deacon.

She was first hospitalized with aorta problems in 1974 and has had several major surgeries since then.

She is survived by her husband, Robert, of DeKalb; her father and stepmother, George and Evelyn Montague, of Stockton, Calif.; her brothers, G. Robert Montague, of Stockton, Calif., William L. Montague, of Oakland, Calif.; and eight nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, Oct. 29 at 10 a.m. at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, Calif. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery in Santa Rosa, Calif.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church. A memorial in Wheeler’s name is being established for the National Marfan Foundation by the church.