John C. Wilkens passed away Saturday morning, December 21, 2013, at the age of 90.  He was active through the last day of his life, and died peacefully in his home in Mount Vernon, Washington.

He was born on January 17, 1923 on a farm near Nauvoo, Illinois to John A. and Lulu Salisbury Wilkens.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served as a flight engineer.  He later attended Officers’ Candidate School and until the end of World War II served as a transportation officer with convoys on the Burma Road.

Following the war John moved to southern California and worked in the neon sign industry.  He later attended Azusa Pacific University where he met Ruth Spurling, and they were married in 1959.  Between their engagement and marriage, John went to the Philippines for eighteen months of missionary service. The couple returned there for one year after they were married.

After returning to the states, John worked as a pastor in Grand Junction, Colorado, then as Dean of Students at Azusa Pacific University, then later as an instructor at a small college in Miltonvale, Kansas.  Shortly after moving to Kansas he was called to pastor the Brantford Covenant Church of rural Clyde, Kansas, where he served for 18 years. Following his retirement in 1988 John did interim pastoral work and pulpit supply in various churches.  The year after his wife Ruth’s retirement in 1999, the couple moved to Oak Harbor, Washington. After Ruth’s illness and death earlier this year John moved to Mountain Glen Retirement Community in Mount Vernon.

John Wilkens is survived by his son Randall Wilkens (Bonnie) of Mount Vernon, Washington; by his daughter Laurel Littrell (David) of Manhattan, Kansas; by his two grandchildren Joanna and Malik Wilkens; by two sisters Joanne Perry of Highlands Ranch, Colorado and Betty Stout (Floyd) of Fort Madison, Iowa; by his brother William David Wilkens (Sharleen) of Crossville, Tennesee; and by his sister-in-law Karen Wilkens of Simi Valley, California.

John Wilkens is preceded in death by Ruth, his wife of 53 years; by four sisters Frances Riis, Rose Slavick, Jeanne Kruse, and Dorothy Gumfory; and by one brother, Kenneth Wilkens.

A private interment with military honors will be held at Union Cemetery in Sedro Woolley, with arrangements by Lemley Chapel. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, January 2, 1:00 P.M. at Bethany Covenant Church in Mount Vernon, where John & Ruth were members.  Memorial contributions may be made to the radio ministry of Brantford Covenant Church, 287 8th Road, Clyde, KS 66938.