James Taylor Wilkerson Jr.

JAMES TAYLOR "J.T." WILKERSON JR. Memorial services for lifelong area resident James Taylor "J.T." Wilkerson Jr. will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, November 30 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints, M Road Chapel. Inurnment will follow at Summit Ridge Cemetery. James Taylor Wilkerson Jr., better known as "J.T." by his family and friends, was born on August 13, 1925 at home in the Lakeview community north of Cortez to James Taylor Wilkerson and Nellie Bennett Wilkerson. He passed on from this life on November 25, 2011 at the age of 86 from complications of bronchial pneumonia and COPD. J.T. spent his early childhood on his parents' farm and attended Lakeview grade school. When he entered high school he had to board and room in Cortez as the muddy country roads were nearly impassable during bad weather. He worked for Mr. Ptolemy at the Star Grocery until graduation in May of 1943 and then he went to work at the Geneva Steel Mills in Provo, Utah where his brother-in-law, Glen Fisher was working. That fall he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served with the 126th Evac Hospital Unit directly behind the lines throughout the war zone in Europe. When he returned from the service he attended college in Fort Collins until his father's health deteriorated and he returned home to take over the farming operation. On August 20, 1950 J.T. married Joy Willden and they raised two wonderful children, Cory and Jody. He farmed and raised cattle on permits up Fish Creek, on Stoner Mesa, and over on North Nipple mountain, which kept J.T. and Joy very busy. Joy was teaching school and raising the family, J.T. was shuttling back and forth between the farm and the mountains. After several years he sold the cattle and permits and started making survey stakes, lath, prop caps, etc. Later he sold the stake mill and started building a new home up the West Fork of the Dolores and lived up-river until he developed lung problems and had to move to Cortez. During his younger years, J.T. served on various boards and committees. He was on the Lakeview School Board, District 3 for several years until it became part of the RE-1 school system. In 1967 he and Joy worked hard to get the rural water system started and he became a member of the Montezuma Water Board. J.T. was also on the Southwest Livestock Association Board, and he was a member of Empire Electric Association Board until he moved to the mountains and was no longer in that district. J.T. was also a member of the Elks Lodge and the Forties Bunch. Preceding J.T. in death were his son, Cory, his parents; a sister, Jean Wilkerson Landoll; a baby brother, Robert Wilkerson; and his nephews, Gerald Fisher and Adrian Fisher. Surviving J.T. are his loving wife, Joy Wilkerson of the family home; his sister Mary Lou Unterburger of Ann Arbor, Mich.; his daughter, Jody Wilkerson Mealing and husband, William of Cortez; his grandson, James Michael Wilkerson of Grand Junction, Colo.; his granddaughter, Camie Jo Wilkerson Funk and husband, Jordan of Burlison, Tenn.; his nephews, James C. Fisher of Arriola, Michael Fisher and wife, Sue of Costa Rica, James Unterburger and wife, Juncko of Portland, Ore., and Thomas Unterburger and wife, Ellie of New York; his nieces, Helen Krejci and husband, Mel of Denton, Tex., and Amy Salamie and husband, David of Ann Arbor, Mich.; by numerous great-nieces and great-nephews; and many relatives and friends. In lieu of flowers please make a contribution to your favorite charity or organization and "pay it forward." Services are under the direction of Ertel Funeral Home. For further information or to send condolences, log on to www.ertelfuneralhome.com and click on the obituary section.