Verna Gilbreath Wilkes

MRS. JOE F. WILKES Her life having spanned the 20th century, Mrs. Verna Gilbreath Wilkes, 98, died January 18, 2003 at the Haven of Our Lady of Peace in Pensacola, Florida. Funeral services will be conducted Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols with Rev. Thomas Smith officiating. Burial will be in the Rose Hill Cemetery. The family will visit with friends Wednesday from 12:00 to 2:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Notes of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.oakesandnichols.com. The 12th and youngest child of the late John Alexander Gilbreath and Aggie Mathews Gilbreath, she was born October 11, 1904 in the family homeplace on Richardson Road in the Southport Community, still occupied by the Gilbreath family. She lived in Broadview and Sunnyside on her father's farms before moving to town in the Highland Park area. She was a 1923 graduate of Columbia Central High School, attended the Columbia Institute and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where she became an accomplished pianist and organist. Mrs. Wilkes taught music at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia where she met the principal and her future husband, Dr. Joe F. Wilkes of the Sawdust Community. They were married August 15, 1935 at the First United Methodist Church in Columbia. Thereafter, she accompanied him as he rose from Giles County Elementary School Supervisor to Professor of Elementary Education at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro and the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Dr. Wilkes preceded her in death in 1959. She was organist at First United Methodist Church in Columbia and served as head of the piano department at Columbia Central High School. Long-time choir director and organist at Audubon United Methodist Church in Louisville, she taught piano to many children through the years. Mrs. Wilkes was a member of the philanthropic organization, PEO and since moving to Pensacola in 1978, was a member of the First United Methodist Church. Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Frank G. and Carol Wilkes of Pensacola; a granddaughter, Kristin Wilkes (Scottie) Horne of Pensacola; a great-granddaughter, Lauren Olivia Horne; step-granddaughters, Pamela (Matt) Mauldwin of Pensacola, Dana (Jim) Haig of San Diego and Wendy Stevens of San Diego, California; nephews, John Patterson of Columbia, J. Earl (Bonney) Gilbreath, Jr. of Savannah, Georgia, Spencer T. (Joyce) Gilbreath of Brea, California and Alan Gilbreath of Tustin, California. Other close relatives include Susan Gilbreath Erwin, John Robert (Julie) Gilbreath, Jr., Clinton (Teresa) Gilbreath of Columbia, Nancy Patterson (Bobby) Cummins of Manchester and Joann Patterson (Bob) Knight of Alexandria, Virginia.