David Joseph Jilk

Dave was born in Winona, Minnesota on April 28, 1937. At age 17 he graduated high school through the GED to enlist in the United States Navy. He served on the nuclear submarines George C. Marshall and John Marshall. Between those deployments he was an award-winning Navy recruiter. In 1973 he retired from the Navy at the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Winona State College. After graduation he was Comptroller at the College of Saint Thomas and Business Administrator at the College of Saint Theresa. After moving to Tallahassee in 1981, he joined Hunt Insurance Group as Comptroller and later served as General Manager until his retirement in 1999.

He married Lee Conte in 1961 and their son David Jr was born a year later. From 1973 to 1981 the family returned to his hometown of Winona, where he frequently fished and hunted with his father, brothers, and son. Dave and Lee divorced in 1982.

He married Patricia Oglesby on July 2, 1983, and they lived happily in their Tallahassee home for forty-three years. There, he helped to raise Pat’s daughter Thea and later her granddaughter Whitney, and helped to care for Pat’s mother Ella Oglesby, who lived next door. For some time they owned a plot in Steinhatchee, Florida, where they enjoyed boating, scalloping, and fishing in the Gulf.

Dave was an avid golfer with a formidable short game. He was also a masterful gardener, creating lush and colorful backyard landscapes and a highly productive vegetable plot. He was a fisherman beginning in early childhood, seining minnows and catching the family dinner through his retirement, when he was more concerned that his guests might land a few. Dave was extremely proud of his military service defending our freedoms. A man of relatively few words that were always carefully chosen and wise, he loved to laugh with family and friends.

Dave was preceded in death by his parents Norbert and Sylvia (Boardman) Jilk, his brother Michael, and his sisters Judy and Mona. He is survived by his wife Pat, his son David, his brothers Jerome, Gary, and Larry and his sister Diane, his and Pat’s sons Joey, Charley, and Timmy and daughter Thea, and many nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A visitation for David will be held Monday, August 25, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home, 1737 Riggins Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. A funeral service will occur Monday, August 25, 2025 from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM, 1737 Riggins Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. An interment with military honors will occur Monday, August 25, 2025 from 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM at Tallahassee National Cemetery, 5015 Apalachee Pkwy, Tallahassee, FL 32311.