Valerie (Burt) Wheeler, age 88, of Palm Harbor, FL. died on Friday, October 22, 2021, in Palm Harbor, FL.

On Monday, August 21, 1933, she was born in Gravesend, Kent, England, to Reginald and Dorothy Burt. She attended St. Leonards School in St. Andrews, Fise. After graduation in 1951, she attended the Royal Academy of Music in London, England, before moving to Geneva, Switzerland, to pursue her career. She was an accomplished pianist, and athlete and taught piano. She earned the title of Switzerland’s Women’s Singles Tennis Champion for ten years straight. On May 10, 1982, she married her husband, Patrick, becoming his dance partner in life.

Upon her husband’s retirement, they moved to Pinellas County, FL, where she continued to play tennis and teach piano to students living in the greater Palm Harbor area. She found considerable pleasure in assembling 1000 piece puzzles upside down and backward.

She is survived by her husband, her brother Dennis Burt of Markinch, Scotland, her cousin Jane Burt of Bristol, England, and her long tennis partners Diane Ingram and Terry the “Taker”

Arrangements are being handled by Thomas B. Dobies Funeral Home, Tarpon Springs, FL.

As per her request, no service will be held. She will be interred at her alma mater, St Leonards, in the Rose Garden.