Fr. Richard Wilhelmi died on April 1, the afternoon of Holy Thursday. Death occurred in the parking lot at his residence at the University of Mary in Bismarck. Some students found him slumped over the wheel of his car; their efforts at CPR could not revive him. At first it was assumed that he had been trying to shovel his car out from the snow that had just fallen, but Fr. Victor, who was soon on the scene, reported that he did not notice any evidence of shoveling.

Gerald Wilhelmi was the youngest son of a solid Catholic German farm family from northeast North Dakota. His address was Stark-weather, and no doubt he came to know of Assumption Abbey through our monks who were pastors at nearby Devils Lake. His father died when he was a teenager, and his next oldest brother was killed in Korea, so he knew sorrow as a young man.

During his student years at Richardton (1943-49), he was involved in a wide range of activities. Besides being a good student, he was a good athlete who used his big frame to play a punishing game of football and basketball. Besides that, he played in the band and above all, he acted in plays. In the days before TV, local drama was very important in these rural areas, and it seems to have gotten a solid grip on Jerry Wilhelmi that never let go.

After his Benedictine novitiate (1950), Frater Richard was sent to St. Procopius College in suburban Chicago for his junior and senior years of college. This was a truly formative experience for him that seems to have opened up the whole, wonderful world of literature in a way that set him on fire. He was especially moved by the course on Russian literature taught by Fr. Leo Vancura, but he was also very fond of Shakespeare.

Upon his return to the Abbey in 1952, he moved through the seminary course to ordination in 1955. But it seemed that the main part of his energy was poured out in ""part-time'' teaching and especially in coaching dramatics. Just at that time, the school had a new gym, and the stage was unfinished for years. Never mind, he sent his charges out to trod the rough planks, and his backstage crews did wonders under primitive conditions. Such was his drive and energy that it would not be an exaggeration to say that the drama department dominated school life here in those years. Sometimes other aspects of school life suffered as a consequence.

He used to take one-act plays to the contests in the spring. He spent long hours drilling these casts and also individual students for the speech division. He made it clear that anybody that came up to his standards was a cinch to win the state title, and we sometimes did. When we lost, he also made it clear that the judges were incompetent and prejudiced.

In the classroom, Fr. Richard was quite charismatic. He was an inspired lecturer, whose emotional approach to literature ignited a love for books in many students. He did not emphasize critical thinking so much as passionate commitment. He was a demanding taskmaster, who helped to raise the standards of the Abbey school in those years.

When Assumption College opened in the early 1960s, Fr. Richard was one of its prime movers. He was a dormitory prefect, a teacher of English and, of course, the head of the dramatics department. What he did not bargain for was the need for him to become college president in 1966. He threw himself into this work with characteristic gusto, and succeeded in making the budding little school an exciting place to be a student.

Nevertheless, the college did not grow as planned. Due to circumstances that he could not control (mostly location), the enrollment stuck at about 120 and the red ink flowed freely. When the doors finally had to be closed in 1971, Fr. Richard took it very hard. He was not a person with much ability to detach himself from situations like that. He was totally identified with what he did. If it failed, he failed.

Although he was crushed by these events, he immediately took himself to Great Falls, MT, so as to help the financial crisis at Richardton. But within a few weeks, it became clear that he needed a long rest. He spent much of that rest at the monastery, and gradually he found healing. In typical fashion, he worked himself back into shape, designing and building a recording studio here for the production of religious cassettes and tapes.

That venture did not succeed either, but apparently Fr. Richard was learning better how to roll with the punches. He had acquired valuable knowledge in connection with this project, studying communications in London, England. Added to his two graduate degrees (English, Marquette, 1963 and Dramatics, Catholic U. 1973) this training made him very knowledgeable in the field of communications.

In 1978 Fr. Richard was invited to join the faculty at Mary College
in Bismarck. He was reluctant to do so, since he had considered that
rival institution part of the reason why Assumption College failed. Nevertheless, once he got to Bismarck he become totally committed to that college also and spent the rest of his life there.

Although there was not much of a drama department at Mary before Fr. Richard arrived, that could not continue. He began producing regular plays in Arno Gustin Hall, and in later years he organized a communications major as well. He often took students to New York to see plays on Broadway, and he used to accompany communications majors to London for work training at the same center where he had studied. He also used to journey to Stratford, Ontario, to see Shakespearean drama.

Fr. Richard's activities in Bismarck were not limited to the college campus. He helped out at Corpus Christi parish near the state capitol, where he is remembered as a dynamic preacher. He had a great gift for friendship with all sorts of people. One of his favorite retreats was to the Miske farm south of Wibaux, MT, where he spent many happy days.

He was never too busy to support the athletic teams at the University of Mary. After the retirement of Fr. Blaine Cook, one of his best friends, he became the chaplain of the Marauders football squad. He was also a quasi-fanatical follower of the Green Bay Packers, perhaps from his days at Marquette University.

Fr. Richard was a man of complete dedication. Detached objectivity was not his style. He was strongly for some things, such as conservative politics, but totally against the opposite camp. It was the same with people, but fortunately, he liked far more people than he disliked and they returned the compliment. He will be sorely missed by the legions of people he influenced and loved. May he rest in peace.

---Fr. Terrence Kardong