| Notes |
Wanda L. Wilkinson, 73, of Pliny died August 20, 2005, at the SweetBriar senior living facility in Dunbar after a long illness. Mrs. Wilkinson was a perpetual volunteer supporting the American Red Cross. Her employers included Union Carbide, the US Census Bureau, Olan Mills, Inc., and Captain D’s Restaurants. She was a 46-year resident of Pliny, and member of Pliny Presbyterian Church.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lemma R. Rhodes and Margie Westfall Morris, stepfather Everett Morris, and husband, Noble Reese Wilkinson.Surviving: sons and daughters-in-law, Steve and Jenny Wilkinson of Pliny and Rod and Yvonne Wilkinson of Virginia; sister, Evelyn R. Smith of Charleston; and granddaughter, Erin Wilkinson of Hurricane.
Visitation will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, August 23, followed by a 4 p.m. service at Chapman Funeral Home Chapel, 3624 Winfield Road, Winfield, with the Mr. Terry Roush officiating. Burial will be in Pliny Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Pliny. Friends may call from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Kanawha Hospice Care Inc., 1143 Dunbar Ave., Dunbar, WV 25064.
Online condolences may be made at www.chapmanfuneralhomes.com.
Her sister, Evelyn R. Smith wrote:The aged King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiates 1:4, “One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever.” This verse became very real to me as Ted and I entered the former home of my sister, Wanda, and her husband, Reese, for dinner. Before the Lord called them Home, the upper most desire of both had been that their home remain in the family. So their older son, Steve, along with his wife, Jenny, moved in and invited the family down for dinner. There were eight of us at this family gathering. The farm house in Pliny was warm and comfortable and It smelled of ham and sweet potatoes when we walked in. Before dinner, I sat on a stool in the kitchen watching Steve and Jenny finish the preparations for dinner. As the two of them bustled about the kitchen getting things in order, however, in my mind's eye I saw my sister and her husband in their places. For more than forty years, I had sat on the same kitchen stool and watched Wanda and Reese work together preparing the meals in the same way that their son and daughter-in-law were now doing. Over the years, I had watched Wanda place the dishes around the counter tops for us to go buffet style. It always fell to Reese to take care of the very last thing to do, prepare and butter the rolls for baking. I remembered so well, how he held the rolls just so as he brushed the tops with butter and then slipped the pan into the oven. But Wanda and Reese are gone now. They rested from their labors in their burial spots a few hundred feet from the farm house in the Pliny Presbyterian Church graveyard. This time, it was his son Steve who stood in the very same place at the countertop and buttered the rolls just so, and who then put them into the oven. Instead of Wanda, it was Jenny who placed the dishes around the kitchen counter tops from which we piled our plates high with food and headed off to the dining room. This time, it was Steve who stood in the doorway to return thanks for our food---in the very same spot his dad had stood for so many years while he had asked God's blessings before we plunged into our plates of goodies.
While watching our host and hostess as they put the meal together, I couldn't help but ponder the passage of time and how, as King Solomon wrote, one generation moves on and another one takes its place. Jenny’s dad, Paul, and Ted and I, were the oldest ones present. Clearly, the three of us represented the older generation now, while Steve, Jenny, Erin, Rick and Glennis were the younger ones who will one day grow old themselves and take our places as we move on to our eternal Home. But along with the nostalgia for times gone by, came the heartfelt thanks that Wanda's former home is in good hands, and it is full of happiness and joy. We were family again, gathering in a cozy and inviting home, having fun together. For that privilege, we praised the Lord.On the way home in the car, we were quiet, when Ted spoke up. "Today made more of an impact on me than I had expected," he said out of the blue. He went on to explain that he had felt he was an integral part of a real family in a different and special way, and that it was deeply meaningful to him.” I echoed his thoughts as well. Missing from our joyous time together were Steve’s younger brother, Rod, and his wife, Yvonne, who were unable to make it home from D.C. I sent an e-mail to them, describing our family-time together and got a nostalgic reply from Rod. Remembering his growing-up years in Pliny, he wrote: "Aunt Evelyn, I often wonder what life would be like if I had stayed in the heritage you described to me. I really do miss the Pliny environment and traditional family gatherings. Now we all communicate using phone & e-mail, but real connections suffer from the distance. I look at all the family, moral, political, and competitive turmoil in the urban rat race here in D.C, and I am more grateful every year for the common sense and basic fundamentals we got from our parents and extended family. That just doesn't happen much any more. I'm realizing that it didn't happen all the time a generation ago, either. Steve and I weren't always easy kids to raise, and I chuckle when I find myself doing something precisely as Mother or Dad did, not because I choose to, but because the influence was just that great and enduring. Most of the credit I've received during my professional career has come from being well "grounded" -- (not the way I was grounded as a kid!) -- and to be grounded, one must be tied to something strong and secure. Celebrations away from the family lose a lot of their luster. I'll never understand why so many people try to change who they are, forgetting the very things that made them what they are. It helps to be included in the traditions, even if only via e-mail!”\
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West Virginia Pioneers
1932 - 2005 (73 years)
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