Dolores Wilkinson

Dolores Imogene Davis Wilkinson passed away peacefully at home very early Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Jean (as she was known to all) ended her days in the Lakefront New Orleans home she had made and occupied for 64 years. Rarely away from home for long, in August of 2005 she made a visit to her native Pennsylvania, where she loved to spend time with relatives and friends who remained dear to her during all the years after the circumstances of her life took her south. A few days after her return she had to leave again when the city was evacuated due to Hurricane Katrina. When she was finally able to return to New Orleans, several weeks later, she was determined not to be parted again from the home she loved.

Jean Wilkinson was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, on September 29, 1921. Her parents, Elmer and Bessie Isaacs Davis, were the children of Welsh immigrants. Jean’s close-knit family included two sisters, Margaret and Edythe, and a younger brother, James Elmer (“Jimmie”) Davis.

As a girl, Jean was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She graduated from Ringtown High School in June of 1938 and was subsequently admitted to the Jefferson Medical College Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia. During her years at Jefferson Jean forged lifelong friendships with other nurses and doctors. She was awarded her nursing degree in graduation exercises held on April 29, 1943 and subsequently served as an operating room supervisor at the renowned medical institution.

A year after graduating from nursing school, on April 18, 1944, Jean was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy Nurses Corps and underwent preliminary training at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. As a Navy nurse she assisted in the defense of her country for the duration of the Second World War until her honorable discharge from military service with the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) on June 18, 1946. During her period of service, she was stationed first at Gulfport, Mississippi and then at the U. S. Naval Hospital in New Orleans.

It was at the Naval Hospital in New Orleans that Jean met a young Navy pilot born and raised in that city, Lieutenant James Wilkinson III, who wasted little time in securing her promise of marriage. After recuperating from minor surgery at the Naval Hospital, Jimmie invited Jean to accompany him to the Sugar Bowl football game at Tulane Stadium on New Year’s Day 1946. Six weeks after that first date, on Valentine’s Day, he slipped her a ring in a box of chocolates after dinner at Antoine’s. On August 9, 1946, they were married at St. Luke’s Evangelical and Reformed Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Jean’s brother-in-law, the Rev. Warren E. Adams, presided at the ceremony. The newlyweds subsequently took up residence in New Orleans where Jimmie, a graduate of the Tulane University School of Law, had taken up the practice of law in offices shared with his father, Hugh Miller Wilkinson Sr., and brother, Hugh Miller Wilkinson Jr.

Jimmie and Jean were married for very nearly 38 years. Jean was a devoted wife and mother and a loyal friend. She led an active social life and particularly enjoyed the annual round of Carnival balls, attending LSU football games and making trips to popular golf resorts with close friends. For many years she played bridge and participated in a weekly sewing group. She was an avid golfer until heart disease forced her to curtail physical activity. She enjoyed traveling with her husband and treasured memories of a last tour of England and France from which they returned one month before he died. Widowed by her husband’s death on August 5, 1984, Jean remained a widow until her own death more than 31 years later. For most of those years she continued to lead an active life, caring for her grandchildren, marveling at her great-grandchildren and spending time with the sisters-in-law and other close friends who played such an important role in her life.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Elmer and Bessie Davis; her sisters, Margaret Davis Watkins and Edythe Davis Adams; her brother, James Elmer Davis; her husband, James Wilkinson III; her sister-in-law, Leila Wilkinson Scheyd; and brothers-in-law Donald Watkins, Warren Adams, Hugh M. Wilkinson Jr. and John Fletcher Bosworth Wilkinson. Survivors include her daughters, Margaret Wilkinson Butler and Nancy Elizabeth Wilkinson; her son, James Davis Wilkinson; her son-in-law, Warren E. Butler Jr., and daughter-in-law, Elaine Grant Wilkinson; and her sisters-in-law, Dorothy Davis Clark, Sheila Wilkinson Williams, Susan Kern Wilkinson and Gloria Gardner Wilkinson.

Jean is also survived by 11 grandchildren: Daniel Waring Butler, Sarah Butler Putt, Christine Butler Atwood, Stephanie Butler Cheatham, Whitney Butler Lutz, James Beau Wilkinson, Buckley Howell Wilkinson, Anna Greene Allen, Bevin Wilkinson Taylor, Grant Davis Wilkinson, and Luke Wilkinson Kirkland; also by 17 great-grandchildren and 18 nieces and nephews.

Jean was the living embodiment of the Lord’s injunction to love one’s neighbor as one’s self. She was kind to all and always attentive to the needs of others. She lived a saintly life worthy of the heavenly reward she has certainly obtained by her passing. She was an active member of Grace Episcopal Church from the time of her marriage until that parish ceased to exist in the years following Hurricane Katrina. In her last years, Jean was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church where she stood proudly with other military veterans to be honored at services held on Memorial Day weekend or around Veterans’ Day.

Jean was also an active member of P.E.O. International. Her later years were greatly enriched by the friendships she formed with other members of the philanthropic organization. The attentions of her P.E.O. sisters were a great consolation during her last illness, as were those of ministers and members of St. Paul’s Church who came to visit her, bring the sacraments and pray with her in the last weeks and days of her life.

Her family wish also to express their sincere gratitude to the wonderful caregivers and Sisters Servants of Mary who were continually present during the last weeks of Jean’s life, attending to her every need. Their loving-kindness, caring and inspiration were blessings that went far beyond the services they provided. All who come in contact with them are ennobled by the sacrifices their vocation entails. Sincere gratitude is also due the associates of Chateau de Notre Dame Hospice whose services were of invaluable assistance to Jean in making the transition from this life to the next.

A Eucharistic Service will be celebrated in memory of Jean Wilkinson at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 5th, 2016, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 6249 Canal Boulevard in New Orleans, preceded by visitation beginning at 9:00 a.m. Interment will be at Lakelawn Metairie Cemetery following the service. Donations to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church or P.E.O. International, in lieu of flowers, are welcome.