Dennis Wilkerson

Dennis Lee Wilkerson, 81, of Apache Junction, Arizona, fell asleep in the Lord on June 1, 2016 at the Symphony Rehabilitation Center in Mesa, Arizona, from complications resulting from pneumonia. A viewing will beheld in Mesa, Arizona on June 7, 2016 at 4pm. A visitation followed by the funeral service will be held at 1030am on Thursday June 9, 2016 at Baileys Funeral Home in Vienna, Illinois. Bruce Wilkerson assisted by his wife Monique will be officiating the funeral service. Burial will immediately follow the service at Salem cemetery in Creal Springs, Illinois. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Baileys Funeral Home in Vienna, Illinois. Dennis was born in St Joseph, Missouri on January 4, 1935. He graduated from Granite City High School and continued on to receive a Bachelors of Arts in French and Russian Languages and continued his studies to earn a Masters of Arts in Classic Russian Literature. All degrees were earned at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Dennis was married 38 years to the late Edith Marie Casey of Tunnel Hill, Illinois. Dennis remarried Maria Priscilla of Herndon, Virginia on August 13, 1999; they were married nearly 17 years. Dennis served 6 years in the US Air Force Security Command as a linguist-- Russian interpreter. After his military service he pursued his bachelors and masters degree at SIU, Carbondale. Following his academic education he was hired by the Federal government during the Cold War as a linguist and later an intelligence analyst for 35 years. Since he was a young boy he always had a love for airplanes. At the age of 14 he pursued his private pilot license and thus began his love for flying. During his lifetime love for aviation he would become an instrument and commercial pilot and a certified flight instructor both of single engine aircraft and twin engine aircraft. He would log more than 2500 hrs of flight instruction and over 8000 hours as a pilot. He was also actively involved in the Wounded Warriors veterans organization. He loved music and loved to travel. Dennis is survived by his spouse Maria Priscilla and his children Cheryl Depriest and Bruce Wilkerson and his sister Shirley Miller as well as other family and friends. Flowers may be sent to Baileys Funeral Home in Vienna, IL. Memorial donations may be given to Wounded Warriors. The family of Dennis L. Wilkerson wishes to thank Mary Davis and Liz Liber and Baileys Funeral Home for their commitment and support to the family during this time of loss.

Dennis Wilkerson

January 4, 1935 - June 1, 2016