John "Bud" Wilhelm

FUNERAL HOME

BECKER RITTER ELMBROOK FUNERAL HOME

14075 W. North Ave.

Brookfield, Wisconsin

John Wilhelm Obituary

Wilhelm, John "Bud" Died at his home in Brookfield, WI on Sunday, May 27, 2012, at the age of 85. He is survived by his wife of almost 60 years, Geraldine (nee Miller) Wilhelm, three children: Kay (Duane) Maas, Diane (Michael) Creegan and Douglas (Sonja) Wilhelm; eleven grandchildren: Sean, Mary, Matthew, Sarah, Joseph and Brendan Creegan, Katherine, Molly and Hannah Maas and Anneliese and Julianna Wilhelm; brother Andrew Wilhelm and sister Margaret Werner. His parents, Marguerite and Dr. A.A. Wilhelm and sisters Joan Christian and Mary Louise Abell precede him in death. Visitation is Thursday, May 31, at the Becker Ritter Funeral Home, from 4:30 PM until the vigil service at 7:30 PM. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday, June 1, at St. John Vianney Parish (1755 N. Calhoun Rd, Brookfield), at 10:00 AM. Private interment will take place at Resurrection Cemetery in Mequon. John served in the Merchant Marines and the U.S. Army following high school and later received a degree in mechanical engineering from Trine University in Angola, Indiana. John was a licensed Professional Engineer and spent most of his career as a mechanical engineer in the brewing industry. He retired from Miller Brewing Company in 1992 where he oversaw the building of many large-scale projects as Director of Engineering and Chief Engineer. Following retirement he became an amateur radio operator and became involved with Habitat for Humanity where he participated in the building and rehabbing of many houses in Milwaukee. He was an active member of St. John Vianney Parish with the church benefitting from his extensive woodworking skills. John was a loving husband, devoted father, and kind and generous grandfather who will be remembered by many for his professionalism, his faith in God, his willingness to help others, his ease of conversation and sense of humor, and his friendship. Memorials may be made to Habitat for Humanity or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, International (JDRF) Special thanks to Brookfield police, fire and EMS for their compassionate assistance.

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Published by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel from May 30 to May 31, 2012.

Memories and Condolences
for John Wilhelm

4 Entries

Adam Glass

June 1, 2012

Hello, I'm one of the many people who worked for and with John while he was with Miller Brewing Co
I have received many emails from around the country from John's associates stating what a great man he was. Bosses, peers and subordinates alike. He will be truly missed by all.
John was a great story teller and had a tremendous memory. Sandi Scott, Ken Becker and I had lunch with him last Wednesday and he was remembering the past and having a great time.
He enjoyed his time and Miller and when you talk about large projects it is hard to understand how he could have accomplished all he did. He lead Miller teams into Can and End Manufacturing – 5 Can Plants and 2 end plats, A Glass Bottle Plant along with a Natural Gas Field, Installing Miller Genuine Draft , Draft beer in Bottles and Cans working with Sapporo, a Japanese Brewing Co in all of the 7 Miller breweries. As chief Engineer he was responsible for 100's of Millions of Dollars of Brewery work beyond the projects I mentioned.
What I remember most about John was drive to get things done. There was never anything he would not tackle. Some things may have been harder for him but he just worked with more determination.
Now a story about John.
John was assigned to oversee the startup of the Irwindale brewery after being involved in the container projects I mentioned earlier. John believed that the field engineers had to be on the site before the contractors to make sure they were working in the correct areas and answer any questions they may have. Let's say turn on the lights for them and by the way also turn them off. One of the engineers tried to comply by turning on the lights but John was always there before him to hit the switch first. The engineer would move up his time to arrive earlier by 15 minutes or so each day but he could not beat John to it.
He finally told me his dilemma. I told him when John travels for work he stays on Milw. time. Our 7am in CA. was 9 am for John so John has probably at work by 6 am.. John will always beat you.
Some of john's sayings.
When working with budgets John wanted great detail. No rounding Dollars up or down. He would quote Senator Everett Dirksen A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.

Also when talking about Toys, - Boats, cars, lawn equipment, et. The amount of spare time you have is inversely proportional to the number of spark plugs you have to change..
I could go on for hours with John stories as could many other Miller people.
Gerry, Kay,, Diane, and Doug ---John will be missed by all of us that knew him from Miller and I'm sure by the rest of his friends from outside work. Be assured a man of his talents, traits and ethics is already with the Lord.

Kathy Ishler

May 31, 2012

Uncle Bud was the elder statesman for our family. We were so happy to share some time with him last month. Kathy, Dan Bob & Roger

Alice and Peter Brusky

May 30, 2012

Peter and I have many wonderful memories of being with your family and are very sad to hear about the loss of Bud. You will all be in our prayers especially in the coming weeks. Peter and Alice Brusky

Lee Hatfield Jr

May 30, 2012

My Condolences, God Comfort and Bless you in this time of loss.

KF9LG Silent Key

73 K2HAT

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