Bea Wenkheimer died peacefully at Linden Court on October 23, 2016. She was 92.
Bea was born January 11, 1924 in Hyannis, Nebraska. She was the third daughter of Benjamin and Ruth (Green) Weber. Until she was four, the family lived on a Kinkaid homestead about 15 miles South East of Whitman, Nebraska, where her parents ran the Spring Valley Hunting Club. In 1928, the family left the homestead and moved to North Platte. When Bea was 16, she and her mother moved first to Los Angeles and eventually to Dallas, Oregon. In January of 1942, Bea’s mother, Ruth, married Bob Moran formerly of the Hyannis-Whitman area. They moved, with Bea, to Bob’s small ranch in south central Wyoming near the town of Savery, Wyoming. Bea finished her senior year at nearby Dixon High School and graduated in May 1942, the only girl in a class of five. In 1943, Bea married Wendell Monroe, a soldier stationed at Lowry Army Air Base in Denver. In 1944, their son, Dan, was born and their daughter, Marilyn (Lynne) in 1949. The family made their home in Denver and were active members of Calvary Baptist Church and participated in other community activities like Boy and Girl Scouts. They spent summers camping, hiking and exploring the Colorado mountains, and winters ice skating with friends. In 1963, Bea separated from Wendell, and she and Lynne moved to Greeley, Colorado where she attended Colorado State College. Bea graduated in May 1966 with degrees in Elementary Education and Art. She taught the following school year in the nearby town of Gilcrest, Colorado. In 1967 she moved to Littleton, Colorado where she taught 5th grade at North Elementary for the next 10 years. In July of 1968, Bea married Cecil Wenkheimer. They lived in the metro Denver area until Cecil’s death in 1997. They loved camping, rockhounding, fishing, antiquing, crafting, entertaining, traveling, gardening and most of all, spending time with family and friends. In 1994, they jointly bought a house with daughter Lynne in Arvada, Colorado where Bea continued to live after Cecil’s death until moving to North Platte in 2010. She had been a resident of Linden Court for five years and was loved and treasured by the staff and other residents.
Bea’s granddaughter, Wendy Ringie, recently wrote of her Grandma:
“Bea was a force of nature….It is no hyperbole to say that everyone who met her grew to love her. In many ways, she and Papa Cecil were my other parents. We lived in the same house from when I was 11 until she moved to Linden Court when I was 28. To say I was close to her would be a vast understatement. She encouraged my curiosity, my love of stories, and my creativity – generally by example. She adored travel, art (she was a watercolorist and a talented crafter) history, nature and science (she was a birder and rockhound), cooking, orderliness (which I did not appreciate until I was out of my teens), and had literally the greenest thumb of anyone I knew, including Papa Cecil who had a degree in horticulture. She was a warm hostess and I learned a lot about party planning and how to make others feel welcome in my home from her. Mom and I are the women we are today because of her.”
Bea is survived by her son, Dan (Catherine) Monroe of Wenham, Massachusetts and her daughter, Lynne Ginther, of North Platte. Bea had three grandchildren: Daniel T. Monroe of Seattle, Washington, Robert (Tara) Monroe of Vancouver, Washington, and Wendy (Colin) Ringie of Lakewood, Colorado. Bea also had five great-grandchildren:
Daniel and Adrienne Monroe of Seattle, Washington, and Zachery, Trevor, and Robyn Monroe of Vancouver, Washington. She is also survived by too many nephews and nieces, both related and ‘adopted’, to count. She was the universal ‘grandma’ and ‘aunt’ and her spirit, smile and kindness will be missed by all that knew her.
She was preceded in death by her mother and father and step-father; her husband Cecil; and sisters Dorothy Widstrand and Nellie Lanig.
Memorials are suggested in her name and online condolences may be shared at www.adamsswanson.com. Cremation was chosen and services will be held at a later date. Anyone wishing information on her services, please contact her daughter Lynne at 308-520-9966. Adams and Swanson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.