In Chicago, Illinois 18 years after the turn of the nineteenth century on March 11, Bernadette Dorothy Grace DeWulf was born at home to an immigrant father, August J. DeWulf and mother, Nathalie L. Matthys DeWulf of Oconto, Wisconsin.

By early twentieth century standards Bernadette likely enjoyed a charmed childhood with her seamstress mother, hard-working, landlord father, and two older sisters – Nathalie and LaVerne. In the 1930's, Bernadette, Nathalie and LaVerne traveled to the intermountain west in a Model A Ford, a trip sponsored and chaperoned by their uncle. This was likely the beginning of Bernadette's appreciation for adventure and love of nature. Later in grammar school and high school she was part of a group of young women (the Mozart Girls) that would meet at Mozart Park in Chicago for outdoor activities, singing, jump rope, jacks, tumbling and roller skating competitions as well as watching the Aces, the Gridmons and the Hungry Eight baseball teams. The Hungry Eight team included the man Bernadette would marry on June 28, 1941, Edward Leo Schulze (formerly Schulzendorf). Bernadette worked after completing high school as a Burrough's machine operator, her second job was in the office of The Creamery Package Company (an ice cream company on Washington Blvd.) and then at Eagle Pencil Company as the secretary to three salesmen.

Within twelve years of marriage, Bernadette and Ed had four children: Susan Bernadette (1944) married Kent Hall, Edward Terry (1946) married Barbara Gay Erickson, Candace Marie (1950), and Steven Michael (1953) married Shari Billing. In 1957, Bernadette and Ed built a house in Wheaton and moved there just after their fifth child, a daughter, Valerie Anne was born. By 1959 Bernadette had amassed a small baseball team of children when her sixth child, daughter Tracey Christine, married Jeffrey Heilbrun, was born.

By the end of 1991, Bernadette had eight grandchildren: Sherri Hall Martin (Andy), Kristi Hall Reckard (John), Jennifer Schulze Aguirre (Luis), Todd Schulze (Lynn Showalter), Chad Schulze (Liz), Travis Schulze (Natasha), Trevor Schulze (Jackie) and Taylor Schulze. By 2021, Bernadette's clan included fourteen great-grandchildren, Matthew, Chelsey, Chloe, Austin John, Davis, Jay, Andrea, Sofia, Saul, Katie, Nathan, Koal, Maddie and Cole as well as two great-great-grandchildren, Jared and Eliza.

Bernadette was a steadfast creator of adventures and fun for her children and grandchildren. She always made time for learning, outdoor activities and outings, games and all-around fun times. Bernadette made family vacations into grand explorations whether it was the favorite farm in Michigan, exploring the home state of Illinois or the many car trips to the western states. Educational stops, walking, hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, rafting, skiing, swimming and any fun adventure was included in Bernadette's planning. She was a master at organizing scavenger and treasure hunts that would take her children all over Wheaton. Bernadette enjoyed watching clouds with her children and grandchildren she pointed out familiar shapes she imagined from those clouds. Bernadette enjoyed watching clouds with her children and grandchildren; they would point out familiar shapes they imagined in those clouds. Bernadette continued cloud watching until just a few weeks before her death. In addition, she would make up entertaining games for indoor fun: dropping old fashioned clothespins into a narrow-necked milk bottle, guessing the penny-in-the-hand stair game and the fast-moving ping-pong ball blowing contest on the kitchen table.

Later, when her children were grown, Bernadette received several outstanding service awards from the Wheaton Police Department for her commitment, dedication, positive safety record and genuine caring as a Wheaton School Crossing Guard for over a decade. The school children Bernadette served, loved her. She always had a smile, kind and supportive words for the kids, and she gave them candy and small surprises at the holidays. Many a parent went out of their way to show appreciation to Bernadette for safe guarding their children.

A gifted gardener, Bernadette's yard on Cadillac Drive in Wheaton and the gardens at St. Mark's Church, never disappointed with beauty and variety. A botanist by experience, she knew how and where trees, shrubs, plants and flowers would thrive. A remarkable amount of very pleasurable time was spent outside working in her gardens.

In Bernadette's 40's, and again in her 60's and early 70's, she was a dedicated, patient and kind caregiver to her mother and then her husband, a stroke survivor. She was a master at taking care of her family and keeping the group united and in touch.

Bernadette's husband, Ed, died in 1989. She then enjoyed many years with some time for herself, traveling by train across the United States mostly on her own to visit family, and connect with her children for many adventures, birthdays and reunions. She joined friends nearly every week at the former Cadillac Ranch in Bartlett for country-western line dancing. She would also canoe and hike with the local Sierra Club chapter. Her milestone birthdays became the family reunion times; Arizona, Illinois and Wisconsin were favorite locations for those events.

In time, the home on Cadillac Drive became too much to maintain. At age 99 Bernadette joined the Windsor Park Manor family in Carol Stream, Illinois, where she lived and thrived for four years before her petite, 103-year-old body could no longer sustain her spirit.

Bernadette is survived by four of her six children, eight grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren, cousins and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters, her husband, Edward Leo Schulze, and daughters, Susan Bernadette Hall and Valerie Anne Schulze.

Starting a few years ago, Bernadette would tell everyone that "people shouldn't live this long" and that she was "looking for my ticket out of this world". A life well lived. Bernadette is at peace now and with God; her spirit and soul are soaring. At last, a rest, and nothing but fun adventures and good laughs to sustain her from here on out.

"What we once enjoyed we can never lose.
All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."
- Helen Keller

A visitation will be held on Friday, October 29, 2021 from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton, Illinois.

Chapel prayers will begin at the funeral home on Saturday, October 30, 2021 at 9:30 a.m., with a Funeral Mass to follow at St. John the Baptist Church in Winfield at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow at Wheaton Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Ray Graham Association , Ray Graham Association, Development Office, 901 Warrenville Road, Suite 500, Lisle, IL 60532. Ray Graham is the facility that cared for Valerie Ann Schulze for many years.