Bernice 'Bea' Wilhelm

Bernice ‘Bea’ Wilhelm

February 8, 1932 – August 23, 2026

Bea Wilhelm left this life on August 23, 2026. She was 94 years of age. Bernice Cecilia Wilhelm was born February 8, 1932 to Mary Henrietta Horner and Carl Albert Wilhelm, the 5th of seven children. She was a graduate of Ross High School in Ross, Ohio.

After graduation from secretarial school, Bea moved to San Francisco, where she lived and worked at the Presbytery of San Francisco until 1998. She loved hiking, biking and skiing in California and took many camping trips with friends in the hills and mountains there. She also loved traveling and would visit her family in Ohio as well as further travels abroad to Europe and Egypt.

Bea met her future husband, Andy Nelson, in 1995. A farmer in Minnesota, Andy and Bea traveled back and forth to see one another often before they both retired and were united in marriage on February 28, 1998. For many years, they spent summers on the farm in Minnesota and winters in the San Francisco Bay Area, travelling extensively through California, Hawaii and Mexico.

Bea later moved permanently to Litchfield with Andy, became a member of Beckville Lutheran Church and volunteered at the library. Bea and Andy were also active members of the DFL party and generous volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.

Bea was preceded in death by her parents, Mary and Carl Wilhelm, her husband Andy, her sisters Esther and Roberta and her brothers Robert, Stanley, Carl and Irven. She is survived by many beloved in-laws, nieces and nephews. Bea will be interred alongside Andy at Beckville Lutheran Church.

Services will be announced at a later date.