I was born in Sisseton, South Dakota. At age 3, my parents, Lynn and Marlene Wilkie, and my sister, Tammy, moved to Billings, Montana. We lived there until I was eight years old. Then, we moved to Seeley Lake, Montana, where I lived until I was 32 years old. After graduating from Seeley-Swan High School, I attended the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology, or better known as Montana Tech, in Butte, Montana. I graduated with a B.S. degree in Petroleum Engineering. With the oil industry experiencing hard times, I went to work in a sawmill for a year, then for a construction company building logging roads and putting in water and sewer systems for several years, a drilling company in Elko, Nevada for a year and then for a surveying company. At age 28, I entered the seminary at Fort Wayne, Indiana. Before beginning my third year, which is your vicarage year, I met Lenor Hough. I served my vicarage year at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Onalaska, Wisconsin. During this year, Lenor and I dated even though she was attending Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska. Before I began my fourth year at the seminary, Lenor and I were married on August 6, 1994 in Atlanta, Georgia, which is Lenor's hometown. Completing my fourth year, I received a call to serve as pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Diggins, Missouri, where I served for 14 years. During this time, I also served as vacancy pastor for eight years at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Isabella, Missouri. On April 10, 2006, our Lord blessed Lenor and I with a son, Alan Everett Wilkie. On July 12th of this year, our family was blessed as the Lord extended a call through His congregations of St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Muscoda, Wisconsin and Christ Lutheran Church, Highland, Wisconsin. I accepted the call. Lenor, Alan, and I want to thank both congregations for receiving us with the love of Christ. | |  |