Amazing artist and loving wife, mom, “mee-maw”, sister, and friend.Jenine Christine (Whaley) Wilhelms was born in Casper, Wyoming to Doyle and Clara (Cummings) Whaley on May 22, 1953. Her sister, Cherlyne, arrived shortly after. From there they moved to Ray, Arizona. She loved to tell stories from her time there – a few memorable ones included a tarantula that they kept under the house to kill off scorpions and that she accidentally squatted too close to a cactus. From Arizona they moved to Grand Island, Nebraska, then to Iowa, then on to a few places in Kansas before settling in Blue Hill, Nebraska. It was there that she met the love of her life, Gary Wilhelms, in high school. They were married on May 4, 1974 at St Paul Lutheran Church in Blue Hill and she wore a dress that was created and sewn by her mother. They settled into Gary’s childhood home located in the country outside of Blue Hill and were blessed with three children – Christina, Chelsy, and Chance.
At a very young age Jenine knew she wanted to be an artist. She spent hours honing her craft and the farm gave her plenty of inspiration. Throughout the years she sold paintings of commissioned pet portraits, abstracts, horses, dogs, cows, the country, etc. and she had her artwork displayed in galleries throughout Nebraska. Jenine won several awards, the most recent being the ‘Plainsman Peoples Choice Award’ at the Great Plains Art Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. To supplement her income she raised two breeds of dogs for several years: Jack Russells and Shiba Inus. She did everything really well so it was no surprise that she became a prominent, respected breeder throughout the United States. In addition to the above, she thoroughly enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom and she did it well – so much so that other kids thought of her as their second mom.
Throughout her life she found great joy in riding horses, attending artist workshops/retreats, painting (cows were her favorite muse), taking walks out in the pasture, feeding and watching birds, making amazing meals, and loving on her family. She enjoyed vacationing in the mountains – one of her most memorable trips was in Montana when she traveled to the top of Pryor Mountain to visit Penn’s cabin, which was built by one of her ancestors. Her favorite place to vacation was Estes Park, Colorado. Jenine also had a great interest in health. She loved to frequent health food stores, juice fruits and vegetables, and make all her (innovative and healthy) meals from scratch. She was a woman of strong faith and her laugh, smile, and overall presence lit up a room. Jenine was definitely one of a kind and said the funniest things – such as, “Don’t sit on my parade”. She thought she was saying the right phrase, which made it even funnier. Jenine always selflessly gave her time, energy, and love to those around her and she made everything special because she did everything with so much love in her heart. She was loved by many and will be missed tremendously.
Jenine was cremated and the family will be holding a celebration of life service at the Red Cloud Opera House Art Gallery on June 30th from 2-4pm. All of her artwork will be on display. Should friends desire, cards and memorial contributions may be sent to Livingston Butler Volland Funeral Home and may be made to the Jenine Wilhelms memorial fund.
Jenine was preceded in death by her parents, Doyle and Clara Whaley and her father-in-law, Roy Wilhelms.
Survivors
Husband:
Gary Wilhelms
Children & Spouses:
Christina Wilhelms
Chelsy & Tony Harman
Chance Wilhelms & Ashley Furrow
Grandchildren:
Sophie Harman
Dean Harman
Mother-in-law:
Luella Wilhelms
Sister & Spouse:
Cherlyne and Dale Buehler
Nieces/Nephews & their spouses:
Heather & Jeremy Christopherson
Justin & Nikki Galloway
Many other family members and friends
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