WILKS, HERBERT JOHN (1895-1962)

WILKS, HERBERT JOHN, United Church minister, Blackville, 1932-44; b. Saint John, 14 Jun 1895, s/o Joseph Wilks and Ann Bell; m. 1928, Margaret Irene Jones; d. Halifax, N.S., 14 Oct 1962.

Herbert J. Wilks grew up in Dartmouth, N.S., where his family moved around 1900. He graduated at a mature age from Mount Allison University (BA 1925) and was ordained while on assignment in Bermuda. He had pastorates at 'The Jordans', N.S., and New Carlisle, Que., before being called to Blackville in 1932, as successor to the Rev. William K. Read.

Wilks took an interest in young peoples' work in Blackville, and he compiled historical information for the centennial of the church in 1940. When he left in 1944 he went to Port Hood, N.S. Three years later he accepted a call to Riverside, N.B., where he remained until his retirement in 1957, due to failing health. He was living in Dartmouth at the time of his death. He and his wife, Margaret I. Jones, had a daughter, Helen M. Wilks, who was a physician in Chicago.