Donald Wilkes

Donald Wayne Wilkes peacefully passed away to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the evening of April 9 while surrounded by loving family members. On February 16, 1941, Don was the second child born to Ruth Seibert Wilkes and Waid Wilkes in Memphis, Tennessee. While living on E. Olive Street Don heard Christian hymns being piped throughout the neighborhood from a Pentecostal Church. Thus began the thread of music that followed Don his entire life. These hymns were a comfort to him when his mother passed away when he was eight years old.

After his mother’s passing his father hired a housekeeper, Miss Ada Wall, who happened to be a member of a Pentecostal church. She had a deep booming voice developed from having smoked before she became a Christian and as Don said, “She really put the fear of God in me.”

During summers he enjoyed visiting his grandfather George and grandmother Eula Seibert in their log home in Mountain Home, Arkansas with a view of the beautiful Norfork Lake. Their home had no electricity and no running water.

When Don sat next to his grandfather in church he asked his grandfather “Why are you singing something different from other people?” Thus he had his first lesson in harmony.

Later Don’s father married Doris Anderson and in a few short years he found himself with four more siblings in addition to the three he already had. Because the family moved to Marianna Arkansas Don attended T A Futrell High School where he continued his musical journey by playing in the school band.

He continued his education by attending and graduating from Memphis State University where he majored in speech and journalism. His cousin Michael transferred from Miami Bible Institute to MSU where they were active in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. These years were filled with many good times. Don became a Christian through the guidance of Cousin Michael, and it was here that he met his future wife Nancy. In his senior year of college Don took voice lessons and was told his voice had promise.

When the war was raging in Vietnam there was a mandatory draft. Mercifully Don was able to avoid the bullets by using his journalism degree at the England Air Force Base in Alexandria, Louisiana where he worked for the base newspaper The Tiger Rag. Part of his assignment was to interview and write articles. During his military career he and Nancy married and had their first daughter.

After moving around a few times Don and his family settled in Nashville where he lived with Nancy for 55 years. Don provided for his family by working for the State of Tennessee for over 40 years. He also found time to earn a law degree from Nashville School of Law. During this time they had two more daughters, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The grandchildren enjoyed Don’s sense of humor. One of them called him “Silly Daddy”.

When Don was well into retirement Don and Nancy took a variety of nice trips from 2016-2024. Several of these were bus trips headed up by Jim and Pat Jackson and Patty and Jimmy Moon. These included trips to New York City, the Ark, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maine and Niagara Falls. In 2017 they cruised to Alaska and spent a week in a villa in Palermo, Sicily. The following year they had the blessing of taking a 12- day tour of Israel.

After being members of several churches they settled on Covenant Presbyterian Church where they were members for about 30 years. For the past five years he and Nancy have been members of Stephens Valley Church. Through all these many churches Don was always in the choir. He especially enjoyed participating in the Patriotic concerts.

He enjoyed singing so much that he also added his deep base voice to community choirs, namely the Bellevue Community Chorus founded by Jim Jackson followed by Tempo founded by Mary Combs where he sang in a beautiful performance of Messiah in November of 2024.

Although he lived in Music City he never sang for pay except for one time. He was “discovered” while on a treadmill at the Jewish Community Center. In April 2017 a scout was looking for people with beautiful smiles for a video called “Happy People” by Little Big Town. He was picked and paid a $100.00 bill for his brief performance!

Don was a people person and enjoyed the fellowship of choirs as much as the singing. Likewise, his fellow singers appreciated his humor and puns as much as his deep base voice. One of his sayings was “Drive old cars and have plenty of ‘em”.

Donald leaves behind his wife Nancy of nearly 60 years, three daughters Denise McMillan (Doug), Phoebe Hoover (Andy) and Lydia Kennedy. He also leaves seven grandchildren Campbell McMillan, Matthew McMillan (Courtney), Rachel Canto (Enrique), Laurel Sowder (James), James Hoover (Mary), Thomas Hoover (Simone) and John Hoover and four great grandchildren. He also leaves four sisters Aletta Wilkes, Betty Wilkes, Donna Gardner (Mike) and Sandra Childers (Leon) and beloved nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his parents Waid and Ruth Wilkes, his stepmother Doris Wilkes and three brothers Waid Wilkes, Billy Wilkes, and Rickey Wilkes.

Celebration of Life to be arranged for a later date.

Suggestions for Memorial Contributions:

Stephens Valley Church. 6000 Pasquo Road, Nashville, TN 37221

Thru The Bible. P.O. Box 7100, Pasadena, California 91109-7100

My Choices Pregnancy Help Clinic. P.O. Box 1351, Ripley, MS 38663.