1922
Wanda
2015
Wanda Wilkinson
December 3, 1922 — September 1, 2015
Wanda Marie Wilkinson, 92, of Chappell, died Tuesday, September 1, 2015, at Regional West Garden County Nursing Home in Oshkosh.
Graveside Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, September 4, 2015 at the Chappell Cemetery with Easter Star Rites provided by the Luceba Chapter 220.
Visitation will be held on Friday morning from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at the Holechek Funeral Home in Oshkosh and from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Holechek Funeral Home in Chappell.
In lieu of flowers memorials in Wanda’s name can be designated to the Garden County Health Services Foundation or to the Chappell Library.
Holechek Funeral Home in Chappell is serving the Wilkinson family.
Wanda Marie (Brown) Wilkinson was born on December 3, 1922 to Lola (Eckhart) and Lewis Brown in Long Island, Kansas. At the age of two she moved with her family to Billings, Oklahoma. In 1936 her father was transferred to Chappell, Nebraska, as the manager of Foster Lumber Company. Wanda attended Deuel County High School, graduating in 1940.
After graduation she attended Barnes Business College in Denver, Colorado, and started her career as a secretary.
On December 7, 1941 she married Paul G. McKinney. A son, Paul Jr., was born in 1942, and a daughter, Barbara Lynn, was born in 1945. The marriage ended in divorce in 1952.
In 1954, she married Arnold Dormann. A son, Randall Lee, was born in 1956. This marriage also ended in divorce.
Wanda then moved to Denver, Colorado. She married Harold Wilkinson, formerly of Chappell, in 1958.
She worked at the Denver Federal Center until 1963, when she transferred to Flagstaff, Arizona to work with the U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Center, which was led by noted astrogeologist Dr. Gene Shoemaker. She worked there for several years, as the center mapped the moon and trained the Apollo astronauts in preparation for the first moon landing.
She later worked for the federal government in such agencies as the Department of the Interior and the Public Health Service. Her retirement in 1983 from the Alaska Native Medical Center concluded over 20 years of government service in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Alaska.
After retirement she returned to Arizona. She eventually sold her home in Arizona and moved to Chappell in 1987. She and Harold remarried in 1987, and Chappell was their home until the time when their health required them to move to Oshkosh into the nursing home where she passed away.
She is survived by her husband, Harold, three children, Paul McKinney and wife, Darcie of Manistee, Michigan, Barbara Garcia of Chappell, and Randy Dormann of Oshkosh; two step-daughter, Judy Favaron of Atlanta, Georgia, and Carol Ankram and husband Chip of San Antonio, Texas; 11 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and 2 great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Virginia “Ginny” Cumley, step-daughter Linda Stark, and one great-granddaughter.
Graveside Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, September 4, 2015 at the Chappell Cemetery with Easter Star Rites provided by the Luceba Chapter 220.
Visitation will be held on Friday morning from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at the Holechek Funeral Home in Oshkosh and from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Holechek Funeral Home in Chappell.
In lieu of flowers memorials in Wanda’s name can be designated to the Garden County Health Services Foundation or to the Chappell Library.
Holechek Funeral Home in Chappell is serving the Wilkinson family.
Wanda Marie (Brown) Wilkinson was born on December 3, 1922 to Lola (Eckhart) and Lewis Brown in Long Island, Kansas. At the age of two she moved with her family to Billings, Oklahoma. In 1936 her father was transferred to Chappell, Nebraska, as the manager of Foster Lumber Company. Wanda attended Deuel County High School, graduating in 1940.
After graduation she attended Barnes Business College in Denver, Colorado, and started her career as a secretary.
On December 7, 1941 she married Paul G. McKinney. A son, Paul Jr., was born in 1942, and a daughter, Barbara Lynn, was born in 1945. The marriage ended in divorce in 1952.
In 1954, she married Arnold Dormann. A son, Randall Lee, was born in 1956. This marriage also ended in divorce.
Wanda then moved to Denver, Colorado. She married Harold Wilkinson, formerly of Chappell, in 1958.
She worked at the Denver Federal Center until 1963, when she transferred to Flagstaff, Arizona to work with the U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Center, which was led by noted astrogeologist Dr. Gene Shoemaker. She worked there for several years, as the center mapped the moon and trained the Apollo astronauts in preparation for the first moon landing.
She later worked for the federal government in such agencies as the Department of the Interior and the Public Health Service. Her retirement in 1983 from the Alaska Native Medical Center concluded over 20 years of government service in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Alaska.
After retirement she returned to Arizona. She eventually sold her home in Arizona and moved to Chappell in 1987. She and Harold remarried in 1987, and Chappell was their home until the time when their health required them to move to Oshkosh into the nursing home where she passed away.
She is survived by her husband, Harold, three children, Paul McKinney and wife, Darcie of Manistee, Michigan, Barbara Garcia of Chappell, and Randy Dormann of Oshkosh; two step-daughter, Judy Favaron of Atlanta, Georgia, and Carol Ankram and husband Chip of San Antonio, Texas; 11 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and 2 great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Virginia “Ginny” Cumley, step-daughter Linda Stark, and one great-granddaughter.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Wanda Wilkinson, please visit our flower store.
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