Clarice Marcella Wildman Kilmer passed into the arms of Jesus on Feb. 18, 2025.  

      

Born on June 17, 1925, in the home of her grandparents in Deedsville, she was the second of 10 children born to Francis Ellis and Frances Noami Balsbaugh Wildman. As the big sister to eight younger siblings, she had responsibility for taking care of babies long before the age of Pampers and rubber pants and often said that she never slept in a dry bed until she left home to get married. This was the harbinger of her long life of service to others. She was a child of the Great Depression, but she never spoke of those days as a hardship, instead reflecting with the statement: “We didn’t have very much, but neither did anybody else.” She was a realist, and embodied St. Paul’s injunction to learn to be content in whatever circumstance she found herself. As with all of us, she was a product of her background and upbringing and she grew up with a complete understanding of the words “love” and “duty.” Her best friend and mentor was her older brother, Rex, and together they helped their parents manage a farming family of 12. The stories she would recount of family life during those times live on through the constant retelling by her children. Perhaps they have grown to be slightly embellished over time, but who can blame them? These tales embody love, some hard times and some good, some hilarious and some sad, but all together resulted in the knitting together of close family bonds.
She married Orvil “Fritz” Kilmer on Dec. 14, 1947. She was the perfect match to a man who was her equal in grit and determination. She was wife to a factory worker, a farmer, a paint contractor, a home builder, a property developer, owner/operator of a nursing home and pastor. And it was all the same husband! Together they raised four children and built a life. In 1965, they settled in their dream home on Lake Waubee. This spot became the backdrop to decades of memory-making good times as children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren descended upon her domain. She was surrounded by dogs, unbaited fish hooks and tangled fishing lines, sleeping bags and babies. It was heaven on earth. She and Fritz shared these adventures and love of life through a marriage that lasted almost 48 years until his passing on Oct. 29, 1995.
She worked as a nurse’s aide at the old McDonald’s Hospital and at Peabody Nursing Home in Manchester before she married, and then later at the old Orn Nursing Home in Milford. The skills she acquired during those years prepared her to be caregiver to Fritz as he suffered from the effects of ALS in later life. She was the essence of the Midwesterner, the straight-backed, shoulders squared, clear-eyed woman who was barely a generation away from the great American pioneer. She was still mowing her lawn at 98! She was a wonderful cook, a gifted baker and an unfailing believer in Jesus Christ, serving for over 50 years at Camp Creek Church of the Brethren and before that, at the New Salem Church of the Brethren. She taught Sunday school, sang in a ladies’ trio, served in several church positions and volunteered at Goshen Hospital. She was a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, an aunt, a grandmother, a great-grandmother. She was the matriarch of the Kilmer clan and will never be forgotten. She taught us how to live life, all the way from the beginning to the very end. She was a blessing to us all. “Her children rise up, and call her blessed …” (Proverbs 31:28)
She is survived by her children: Allene Carol Dewart (Jon), of Milford; Stanley E. Kilmer (Helen), of Milford; Wesley D. Kilmer (Lucy), of Coppell, Texas; and Elaine Sue Snyder (Jim), of New Carlisle, Ohio; along with 13 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren. She is additionally survived by siblings: Carol Lee Thomas, of Florida; Bill Wildman (Nellie), of Florida; Geri Stookey-Shipley (Lynn), of Leesburg; Mary Ellen Redman (Jim), of Leesburg; and sister-in-law, Betty Smith Wildman, of Winona Lake. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brother and sister-in-law, Rex and Lorabel Wildman; brother, Vere Wildman; brother and sister-in-law, Dean and Betty Wildman; brother and sister-in-law, Doyne and Gwen Wildman; brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Joan Wildman; and brother-in-law, Lloyd Thomas.
Visitation will held be Sunday, March 2 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Mishler Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 461 W. CR 900N, Milford. Funeral services in celebration of Clarice’s life will be held Monday, March 3 at Camp Creek Church of the Brethren, 7486 North Ind. 19, Etna Green starting at 10 a.m.
Interment will immediately follow at Leesburg Cemetery in Leesburg.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks consideration for donations to Camp Creek Church of the Brethren or the ALS Association, 1300 Wilson Blvd., Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22209.