Rockville
June 10, 1927 – September 2, 2025
Eulalia May (LeMay) Wagner Bechtold, 98, died on September 2, 2025, at her farm home in Rockville, Minnesota. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, October 24, at Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Rockville, Minnesota. Visitation will be in the Rockville church from 4:00-8:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 23, and from 9:30-11:00 a.m. on Friday, October 24.
LeMay was born June 10, 1927, in Wolf Point, Montana, to Thomas A. and Margarette Jackins Wagner. She grew up on a wheat and cattle ranch in Nashua, Montana, where she worked cattle on the prairie on horseback and did field work with horses. LeMay started school at French School in Nashua, a prairie school near the Wagner ranch, and finished at the Lab School in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where the family traveled when her oldest sister was ready to start high school. LeMay said the family “lived as transients” during those years, traveling back to their Montana ranch for the summer and returning to St. Joseph, Minnesota, for the school year. LeMay graduated from St. Benedict High School in 1945 and earned her BS in Biology from the College of St. Benedict in 1949.
She married Jerry Bechtold on August 18, 1948, in Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Nashua, Montana. They settled on a farm near Rockville where they established Kipland Vale Dairy Farm and worked the farm side-by-side. Together, they created a warm and welcoming home and raised their family of 11 children, teaching them the value of hard work, parish and community involvement, and education.
LeMay was active in church and parish work her whole life and, in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, she advocated for lay participation in the Mass and parish. She was a lector and eucharistic minister, served on the Parish Council, and ran the prayer line until she was 98 years old. As the director of religious education in her parish for over 65 years, she taught classes on scripture and the sacraments for all adults, recruited and trained religious education teachers and aides, and involved parents in the CCD classes. She taught Confirmation and First Communion classes for generations—using Penance and Communion textbooks she wrote and published.
LeMay was active in the Christian Mothers, the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, and the National Council of Catholic Women, serving in various roles, including president and keynote speaker at national conventions. She was the St. Cloud Diocesan Pastoral Council executive secretary for several years. She and her husband Jerry were active in the National Catholic Rural Life Conference and co-chaired the St. Cloud Diocesan Rural Life Committee, which hosted the National Rural Life Convention in 1968.
In 1969, LeMay was named to the Advisory Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Committee on Women in Church and Society. In this role, she advised American bishops for many years, advocating for lay participation in church and parish life and for justice for women, children, and families. In 1995, she completed the Certificate of Pastoral Associate, became the Pastoral Associate for Rockville parish, and served until 2016, leading daily Communion Services for the parish.
LeMay worked at St. John’s Abbey Liturgical Press over 30 years, serving as editor of Celebrating the Eucharist, The Loose-Leaf Lectionary, and The Guide for Prayers of the Faithful and Selected Hymns. In 1973, she earned her MA in Theology from the Graduate School of Theology at St. John’s University. She spoke locally and nationally on scripture, lay involvement in the liturgy and parish, and women in the church. Knowledgeable and well-read, LeMay was a fine scripture scholar herself.
Over the years, she was recognized in the parish, the diocese, and nationally for her work in the church. In 1973, she received the College of St. Benedict Outstanding Alumna Award. As LeMay reflected on her life in her last weeks, she said, “I hope and trust that I used all the talents God gave me through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
LeMay loved the family farm and did farm and field work for years; she kept the farm books into her 97th year. She had a huge vegetable garden and taught her children to can and preserve food. Using her trusty weed-whacker, she kept her rock and flower gardens going well into her 90s. She loved to read and often read a book a day.
LeMay warmly welcomed everyone into her home. She loved visiting and playing games with her children and grandchildren. She will be remembered for her bread-baking days and her apple pies with the best crust ever. Whatever LeMay did, she did energetically and whole-heartedly, and she was the heart of the Bechtold family.
LeMay is survived by her children, Karen (Bernie Koltes), and their children: Patrick, Brian (children: Noah, Madison, McKenna), James (Sally) (children: Abigail, Michaela (Luke Mullen) (children: Simon, Henry), Shawn (Toni) (child: Lexi), Heidi (Mario Lopez), and Holly (Kyle Poepping); Brigid; Barbara (John Tomaro), and their children: Londi (Aaron Holmes) (children: Wilder, Moxie), Samuel (Julie) (children: Rylee, Noah), Alicia (children: Hank, Corb); Stephen and his children: Teresa (James Hietala) (child: Aubrey), Thomas (Lauren), Paul (Lucia), Joseph; Mary Ruth; Mark; Joyce, and her children: Shane (Erin Hecner), Cole, Sage; Timothy (Karen Knudsen), and their children: Stellan, Bente. She is survived by sisters-in-law Laura Wagner, Dixie Wagner, Marie Bechtold, and Monica Bechtold and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jerome, in 2013, her sons Michael in 1973, Gregory in 2020, and Roger in 2020, her grandson, Mark Tomaro in 2022, and great-grandson, Waylon Beard in 2008, her nine siblings: Mary Margarette (Les) Hanson, Therese Ann, J.F. (Arlys), Damaris (Phil) Boerschinger; Hugh (Lois), Phillip (Mary Ann), Richard (Pearl), Roger, and David; her in-laws, Dolores (Leander) Meyer, Rosemary (Bob) Warnert, Phil Bechtold, Cletus Bechtold, and Alphonse (Betty) Bechtold.
Arrangements are with the Wenner Funeral Home in Cold Spring.
