Leland Dwight Wilhelm

Leland Dwight Wilhelm, age 83, entered the presence of his Lord and Savior on August 20, 2026. He was born on May 24, 1943, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to the late Lelern Dewey Wilhelm and Mary Lou (Carrick) Wilhelm.

Leland was raised in the farming community of Gould, Oklahoma, and graduated as valedictorian of Ron High School. From an early age, he knew he wanted to be a teacher. That calling grew into a lifelong career devoted to education and the students and communities he served. Throughout his career, Leland worked as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and superintendent of schools in Amarillo ISD, El Reno Public Schools, Fort Bend ISD, Duke Public Schools, and Lewisville ISD.

Leland was equally committed to his own education and professional growth. He earned his undergraduate degree in teaching from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma, followed by a master’s degree in mathematics from Louisiana State University. His proudest professional accomplishment was earning his Doctorate of Education from Texas Tech University.

He married Doyce Elaine (Meason) Wilhelm on August 17, 1967, and they were inseparable for nearly 59 years. Together, they spent almost 20 years in Amarillo before relocating to El Reno, Oklahoma, where Leland became superintendent of schools. They later moved to Sugar Land, Texas, where they retired for the first time. Eventually, they returned to the classroom as teachers in Lewisville, Texas, before retiring for good in 2011.

Leland was always teaching, whether he was working with students and faculty at school, sharing his knowledge with his family at home or even passing along his wisdom on plants and wildlife to his neighbors. He was a wealth of information and genuinely enjoyed sharing it.

At all his administrative positions during his career, he especially enjoyed walking the halls of the schools he served, greeting every faculty member each day and getting a sense of what was really happening with the students. He wanted everyone to feel valued and vital to the school’s mission.

Leland’s proudest family moments centered on his marriage to Doyce, their son, his grandsons, and his great-granddaughters. He was immensely proud of them all and deeply loved the women his son and grandsons married. His greatest joy was his family.

His family and friends will remember Leland as an outgoing conversationalist who was genuinely curious about the people around him. For the past 26 years, he was a fixture in his neighborhood and formed deep friendships with many of those who lived nearby. He was also notorious for answering neighbors’ calls about snakes or other unwanted animals in their yards and rushing over to help, still wearing the robe and black leather slippers he favored at home during his retirement years.

Some of Leland’s fondest memories involved playing on the family farm, shooting pool, traveling, and cars.

He had stories from college about how his skill at pool helped pay his rent more than once. He passed that love down to his son, and the two spent many hours playing together, whether at a pool hall or in Leland's game room.

Travel ranged from Hawaiian and Alaskan cruises to quick trips by car to just check on his cherished family farm a few hours away. Leland was happiest when the wheels were turning. That love of travel dovetailed with his lifelong passion for cars. He loved the freedom they represented and was a lifelong GM enthusiast. Over the years, he owned a string of Chevy's, Pontiacs, Buicks, Cadillacs, Suburbans, and pickup trucks. He formed an emotional attachment to every one of them because they represented the miles he had traveled and the people who shared those journeys with him.

Leland was preceded in death by his parents, Lelern and Mary Lou Wilhelm; his parents-in-law, Cecil and Violet Meason; his brother-in-law, Duane Brewer of Dalhart, Texas; and his sister- and brother-in-law, Wanda and Mickey Frisby of Muskogee, Oklahoma and his nephew Don Frisby.

He was also heartbroken by the loss of his wife, Doyce, less than a week before his own passing. He did not know how to live without her, and their love remained at the center of his life until the end.

He is survived by his son, Dwight Wilhelm, and daughter-in-law, Pam Wilhelm, of Trophy Club, Texas; grandsons Austin Wilhelm and his wife, Madeline Wilhelm, of Yukon, Oklahoma; Tyler Wilhelm and his wife, Selina Wilhelm, of College Station, Texas; and Trent Wilhelm of Trophy Club. He is also survived by his great-granddaughters, Marlowe Lea Wilhelm and Emmitt Grace Wilhelm; sister-in-law Cecillia Brewer of Amarillo, Texas; brother-in-law David Meason and his wife, Gay, of Duke, Oklahoma; nephews Kyle and Aaron Brewer, Mickey Frisby; and nieces Heather Fixsen and Lindsay Dollins.

A visitation will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 3, 2026, at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home, 5725 Colleyville Boulevard, Colleyville, Texas 76034.

The funeral service will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, September 4, 2026. Live-streaming of the service is available at https://youtube.com/live/WylGEe6k-qI. The committal service will follow, with both services held at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home and Memorial Park.