Bennie Joe Wilhelm

January 14, 1925 – July 4, 2000

Bennie Wilhelm, 75, Perry, died at 12:20 a.m. Tuesday, July 4, 2000, at Perry Memorial Hospital.

Wilhelm was horn January 14, 1925, in Stroud, the son of Harry and Feba Rachel (Lawson) Wilhelm. He was a Perry High School graduate. He and Rose Marie Antle were married April 3, 1949, in Perry.

Wilhelm’s profession was as a driller in the oil industry and he retired from Charles Machine Works, Inc., in August 1994. He served in the United States Army from 1941 to 1945 and attained the rank of Corporal before being honorably discharged. He also served in the Oklahoma National Guard. He was a member of the Ellis-Jirous American Legion Post No. 53 of Perry.

Survivors include his wife, Rose Marie Wilhelm, of the home; two sons and daughters-in-law, Sid and Janet Wilhelm, Perry, and Doug and Kathy Wilhelm, Tucson, AZ; two daughters and sons-in-law, Kim and Mark Payne, Perry, and Alicia and Gary Purdy, Enid, OK; grandsons and granddaughters, Travis Wilhelm, Ian Wilhelm, Jeff Payne, Allison Payne, Amanda Purdy and Russell Caldwell; and two great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and four brothers.

Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 7, 2000, at Brown-Sisson Funeral Home Chapel with burial at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Cemetery. Memorials may he made to the American Heart Association.