Woodrow “Joe” Wilkins turned 90 on April 6. Joe was born in Howe, Oklahoma, in 1935 in the days of the Dust Bowl and Depression.
His life has unfolded beautifully and blessedly in Santa Maria, California.
As a child, he lived in Howe with his special maternal grandmother, Pearl Jones, with whom he was very close.
He moved to Tulsa during WWII to live with his mother, Emma Lee (Jones) Wilkins, while his father, Woodrow, served.
After the War, he moved to Bakersfield, California, with his parents. He attended junior high and high school in Bakersfield. He went on to serve in the Army as a military police in Germany. He married his high school sweatheart, Beverly Varner and had three children April, Aaron and Amy.
Later in life, he worked in the oil refineries of Kern County and married for a second time to his beloved Patricia Flynn. They later moved to Santa Maria to work for Chevron until they retired.
He’s been a man of faith his whole life, and his walk with Christ has deepened over the years.
His Choctaw ancestors would be so proud of how he has lived his life for all these 90 years. His life is a testimony to Choctaw strength, resilience and faith.