Palestine High School Alumni Association

12 / 04 / 1917  –  02 / 16 / 1999

Services for Herbert Lindsey Wilkerson, 81, of Palestine, will be at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Bailey & Foster Chapel with Scott Parkin and Marshall Holland officiating.  Burial will follow at Land of Memory Cemetery.

Mr. Wilkerson died Tuesday at Trinity Valley Medical Center in Palestine.  He was born December 4, 1917 in Palestine to James Emmet and Claudia Lindsey Holbrook Wilkerson.  He was a member of Southern Baptist Church where he served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher.  He graduated from Palestine High School and Nixon Business College and attended Texas A&M University.

He retired as a senior architectural engineer for Southwestern Bell Telephone in 1975 after 31 years with the company and returned to Palesting from Houston.  Mr. Wilkerson was a lifetime member of the Telephone Pioneers of America where he contributed many hours of volunteer service.  He has been a member of the Anderson County Genealogical Society and served as a representative from Anderson County for the East Texas Genalogical Society in Tyler.  He also spent many volunteer hours in restoration of the John H. Reagan School now known as the Museum for East Texas Culture.

Mr. Wilkerson was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Mary Oleta Wilkerson; and sister, Juanita Milner.

He is survey by his daughter, Lynda Sansom of Palestine and Martha Ruggles of Cedar City, Utah; brother, Rev. James Wilkerson of Texarkana; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be Dr. Michael Wilkinson, Vernon Fritze, Johney Titlow, Rory Wall, Tom Bolton, Dale Coleman, Al Gaddis, and Allen Billington.  Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Telephone Pioneers.

The family will receive condolence calls from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Source:  Palestine Herald Press