Herbert (Herb) Marston Wilkie
December 13, 1922 – May 23, 2016
Herb was born in Essex, Connecticut. World War II interrupted his studies at Rollins College in Florida and he eventually entered the world of professional fund raising of capital projects. Raising money for colleges, hospitals, United Way, etc., took him to almost every state of the Union, parts of Canada and eventually Australia, where he met and married Marjorie Thomson in 1959. They worked in Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane before returning to the States, where business saw them living in 8 different States before returning to Australia. Those were the “gypsy years” as the kids call it.
They returned to the US in 1967 to the Wilkie ancestral home in Stamford, New York – a tiny town of 1,000 people in the Catskill Mountains. Herb’s selling of newspaper advertising, situated him to organize and run the town’s Centennial – a whole year of fun and hoopla. Childrearing, the purchase of a local Montgomery Ward catalog store, and rural mail delivery in good weather and snow, kept the couple busy for the next 17 years until Wards closed their 130 year-old catalog business.
They drove across Canada to Expo 1986, followed by a trip to Vancouver Island for the day! It has been a very long but enjoyable “day”, starting with 17 fun years of running their B & B at Schooner Cove, before they retired to Parksville.
All his life, Herb volunteered his time with town service clubs, served as President of both Rotary and Kiwanis and helped with chartering the first Probus Club in Nanoose. He drove for the SOS, delivering meals and transporting to medical appointments, in addition to serving on their Board of Directors. He was a member of Knox United Church.
Herb, always on the ball with a quick wit, earned the title “The King of the One Liner.” Marj, the love of his life, will especially miss him along with their 3 children – Geoff (Vickie) in Toledo, Oregon, Heather (Michael with Jason) in Van, Texas and Brad (Teri with Natalie and Ellery) in Lompoc, California, and his sister, Carol, in San Luis Obispo, California.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Knox United Church on August 6, 2016
at 2:30 p.m. when all the widespread family can be united.