She loved her adopted home (10/13/05)

It’s always flattering when a newcomer adopts your hometown.

That’s what happened in 1990 when Barb Wilkinson came to Jay County.

Though she was born and raised in upper New York State, she quickly embraced her new Hoosier home, plunging into work as a volunteer and taking on the responsibilities of leadership.

She was a huge fan of the Marching Patriots of Jay County High School and took over control of our annual band supplement, making it her personal project and taking pride in the fact that no other newspaper in Indiana produced anything comparable.

She dove into behind-the-scenes work at Jay County Civic Theatre and took a personal interest in every production.

She bonded with the men and women of the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association, becoming close friends with many of the directors. Her favorites were the folks in the loosely-organized Oil Field Engine Society, and she was proud that the feature story she wrote on the group was its unofficial history.

Though her health problems had been a reality for more than a year, Barb’s death this week still came as a shock to friends, family, and her co-workers.

She’ll be profoundly missed by the community she came to love as her own. — J.R.

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