Illinois
Last Illinois Tuskegee airman remembered
Final Illinois Tuskegee airman remembered by family members
Wilk grew to become a bomber pilot after World Warfare II within the nation’s first Black aviation fight unit. He later grew to become a bus driver as a result of he could not pursue his goals of being a industrial pilot.
MARKHAM, Ailing. – Oscar Lawton Wilkerson, Jr., higher generally known as Wilk, died on Feb. 8. He was the final surviving Tuskegee airman within the state of Illinois.
Wilk grew up in Chicago Heights and ultimately settled in Markham. He handed away a day earlier than his 97th birthday, however his legacy will stay perpetually.
Wilk grew to become a bomber pilot after World Warfare II within the nation’s first Black aviation fight unit. He later grew to become a bus driver as a result of he could not pursue his goals of being a industrial pilot.
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He did purchase a small aircraft with a good friend in order that he might nonetheless have the ability to get pleasure from his love of flying.
In 2007, Wilk was honored with a Congressional Gold Medal.
His life mission was to coach youngsters and encourage them to enter aviation. His pastor of 13 years says he motivated everybody he met.
“He was a man who we noticed as a residing legend right here on the congregation. He was soft-spoken, a quiet man. However he was a man who favored to put money into different folks. Wilk invested in generations of members of Hillcrest Baptist Church. And never simply the church, even the entire group,” stated Rev. Adron Robinson of the Hillcrest Baptist Church.
The objective transferring ahead is to have a scholarship named after Wilk.