Wilma Jean (Bachtel) Cleveland, age 94, of Brookfield, Missouri, passed peacefully at 9:20 am on Saturday, March 18, 2023, at Hillside Village in De
Soto, KS. Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 pm. Thursday, March 23, 2023 at Rhodes Funeral Home, Brookfield, MO; with Terrie Howerton officiating. Burial will follow at Rosehill Cemetery, Brookfield, MO. Visitation will be held Thursday, March 23, 2023 at Rhodes Funeral Home, Brookfield, MO; with family receiving friends from 1:00-2:00 pm. Services are under the direction of the Rhodes Funeral Home, Brookfield, MO.
Memorials have been suggested to the Shriners Children’s Hospital or St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and may be left at or mailed to Rhodes Funeral Home, 216 Linn Street, Brookfield, Missouri 64628. On-line registry at www.rhodesfh.com Wilma Jean was born on March 10, 1929, in St Catharine, Missouri, the daughter of Orville William Bachtel & Ruby Ethel (Thudium) Bachtel. She was a 1949 graduate of Brookfield High School. On August 5, 1950, she married James Wesley Cleveland. After a career that spanned 47 years working in various positions at the United Missouri Bank in Brookfield, she retired in 1995. Throughout her life, she was a horse owner, barrel racing and participating in horse shows and parades. Her favorite thing to do on a Saturday afternoon was spend hours riding her horse in the country. She enjoyed camping, water skiing and spending time with her family. Wilma Jean moved to De Soto, KS to live with her daughter in 2018 where she enjoyed spending time with her daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughters, going to their many activities. She moved into Hillside Village’s Assisted Living in 2021, thriving with many new friends and charming the staff members, even letting everyone there call her “Wilma”. There she found her love for crafting, bingo, and tons of hot chocolate! Wilma Jean is survived by her daughter, Linda (Floy) Switzer of De Soto, Kansas; five grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren and several great great grandchildren. She will be dearly missed. She was preceded in death by her husband, James Wesley Cleveland, her parents, her son, Larry Gene Cleveland, and her two brothers, William “Billy” Bachtel and Dail Bachtel.
