Obituary of Genie Wenzel-Bill

Wenzel-Bill, Genie April 24, 1933 - May 13, 2025 Jeniya Wenzel-Bill, who grew up as Aggie Golinowski on a farm near Lavoy and was known professionally as Genie Wenzel-Bill, spent this sunny Mother’s Day strolling through the town of Mundare and enjoying the music at Baba’s Bistro. As a teenager, Jeni left the farm to study at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, then started nursing at the Los Angeles County Jail. Jeni never said much about working at the jail – she soon transferred to the hospital where she met her first husband, Warren Wenzel. She did deplore the treatment her incarcerated patients received, or didn’t receive, and described how she would stand up for them and demand proper care. That ability to recognize the humanity of her patients and the courage to speak out made her a confidant to many and highly-respected professionally. The pinnacle of her career was as a supervising ICU nurse at Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo, California. She also worked as a community nurse in the foothills of the Scottish highlands near Glasgow. She led Girl Scouts in New Providence, NJ and helped start a community newsletter in San Juan Capistrano, CA, and she once ran away from home to go dancing in Chapel Hill, NC. She raised two children as a widow and later married Jack Bill. Widowed again, Jeni returned to Vegreville in 2009. They played ‘‘You Are My Sunshine’’ at Baba’s Bistro, the one song Jeni remembered learning on the mandolin in her childhood. Two days later, after having lived with Alzheimer’s for more than 35 years, Jeni peacefully slipped away. Jeni was predeceased by her parents Kuba and Tekla Golinowski, siblings Mary ‘‘Nady’’ Kitt, Frank Golinowski, Stan Golin, Anne Beaudette and Jean Poulin. Jeni leaves daughters Laura Wenzel (aka George Golightly) and Diane Wenzel; step-daughters Vivien Muir and Lesley Williams; sons-in-law Jeff Cobb, Alan Muir and Gordon Williams; grandchildren Jasper Cobb, Jennifer Thompson, Ross Williams, Gregg Muir and Debbie Muir, and numerous nieces and nephews. Readers are invited to honor Jeni’s dream of being a missionary up north by contributing to Indspire.ca, and to record their memories by visiting www.autumnrosefuneralhome.com