Wilhelm, Ellen Jane 1948-1985

WILHELM, GILMER, PAYNE

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 2/12/2014 at 11:13:35

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register
Oct. 14, 1985

ELLEN WILHELM
SERVICES HELD

Ellen Jane Wilhelm, 36, formerly of Grinnell, died Oct. 4 at the Winchester Medical Center in Winchester, Va., of head injuries she sustained in an automobile accident near Charles Town, W. Va., on Oct. 2. She had been in a coma from the time of the accident until her death.

According to the West Virginia State Police, Miss Wilhelm's car was struck head-on by another car whose driver was attempting to pass a third vehicle. The accident occurred in the morning on a rural West Virginia highway as Miss Wilhelm was driving to work from her home in Virginia.

Funeral services were held Oct. 6 at the Rock Spring Congregational Church in Arlington, Va., where she had attended Sunday School as a child. She was buried Oct. 8 in Lebanon, Va., next to the graves of her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Gilmer.

She was born at St. Francis Hospital in Grinnell in 1948 and was baptized at the Congregational Church here. Her father taught at Grinnell College. She moved with her family to Arlington, in 1951. She was a graduate of George Mason University.

Survivors include her mother, Jane G. Wilhelm of Reston, Va.; her father, Donald Wilhelm Jr. of Cambridge, England; three brothers, Donald Wilhelm III of San Francisco, Calif., Henry G. Wilhelm of Grinnell and John W. Wilhelm of New Haven, Conn. Miss Wilhelm lived with Larry Payne in Bluemont, Va.