Obituary of Jeanne Wilhelm
Beulah Jeanne Slaght Wilhelm (“Jean”) was born July 7, 1930 in Bismark, ND to Melba Maurine
Whittemore and Ford E Slaght. Her grandfather was a doctor (the first Surgeon General for the state of
ND) and wanted his daughter nearby when she gave birth to his first grandchild. Eventually three more
children joined the family: Myra (John) Elder, Lynn (Geri) Slaght, and Donna (Don) Davis. As a youngster,
she and her family lived in several places in Montana due to the fact that her father, Ford Slaght, was a
teacher, coach and superintendent for those small school districts. Some of them include Plevna, MT;
Plentywood, MT; Jordan, MT; Nashua, MT. By the time she was in junior and senior high school, the
family had settled in Wolf Point, MT. She graduated high school in 1948. Summers were spent with
cousins at her uncle’s ranch near Medora, ND. It was a family tradition for her to go to Jamestown
College (now University) and she graduated in 1952 with a degree in PE and Business.
After college Jeanne taught for two years in Carrington, ND. After a summer trip to Europe (by boat
back then!) she taught in Livingston, MT. There she met her husband, Harlan H. Wilhelm “Will”
(preceded her in death May 17, 2017) who was attending college at MSC (now MSU) in Bozeman. Three
baby girls were born there. The first, Deborah Jeanne, preceded her in death at her birth in 1958.
Jennifer Lee was born in 1961 and Heather Stacy in 1964. In 1966, the family moved to Post Falls for a
job for Harlan. She immediately got involved in Post Falls Community Presbyterian Church where she
taught Sunday School, helped with VBS, and was a strong alto in the choir for over 54 years. Jeanne got
certified by correspondence course to teach in Idaho. She substitute taught for five years and then
taught PE and coached basketball and track at the junior high. In 1992 she retired.
She had many medical challenges (breast cancer twice, heart issues, removal of her bladder) but still
persevered. She ended up being one of the first volunteers for Reach for Recovery which helps other
women who have had breast cancer. She was a wonderful sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great-
grandmother. Some of her hobbies included going to airshows and gun shows with her husband of 61
years, collecting Haegar and Red Wing pottery, playing games, traveling, knitting, painting, reading,
singing in the church choir and of course spending time with family, whether at holiday gatherings or
reunions.
Jeanne is survived by her two daughters, Jennifer (Mike) Huston and Heather (Mel) Westlake. She has
eight grandchildren: Timothy (Christi) Scully, Daniel (Rebecca) Scully, Deborah (Ian) Pettus, Amanda
Westlake, James (Elisabeth) Huston, Catie (Chris) Munro, Calie Huston, and Ben (Rachel) Huston. There
are also eleven great-grandchildren: Tayne, Thorin, Thea, Roman, Calvin, Ruth, Noah, Elam, Declan,
Henley, and Riley. She taught her grandchildren to swim and they all love the water. The oldest,
Timothy, liked it so well, he has trained and done two Ironman races so far. He attributes his grandma
for his love of swimming. Daniel is an artist like his grandma. And Deborah is a singer like her. All of
them have the love of music which she instilled in them.
Memorial Service will be at Post Falls Community Presbyterian Church on Saturday December 21 at 10
am. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to any nonprofit cancer group.
