Description: |
One typed page including photograph; biography of Edward Lee Wilkerson, a distinguished surgeon from Terre Haute, Indiana. WABASHP R OFIA hometown h heroes who h difference. A seriies of ttributes tto h f ib t t h have made a diff dVALLEYL E SDr. Edward L. Wilkersonlegendary Terre Haute high school athlete who went on to become a distinguished surgeon and educator, Dr. Edward Lee Wilkerson devoted his adult life to improving the lives of others. Born in Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 20, 1921, Ed was the son of Lee and Mabel (Covington) Wilkerson. His father died before he was born and Mabel Wilkerson was a food poisoning victim three years later. Joy Covington, Ed's 16-year-old maternal aunt, became his guardian, taking him from Memphis to Cleveland. By the time Ed was in the eighth grade, he displayed special aptitudes in the classroom and as a member of Cleveland's junior high school championship track team. Because he expressed interest in medicine, Joy took him to Terre Haute where Dr. James J. Hoover resided and maintained Hoover Sanitarium at 2144 Eighth Ave. Dr. Hoover's wife Alberta was his mother's sister. While attending Wiley High School, Ed lived with Aunt Alberta and the Hoovers' son, Dr. Dewey Hoover, and worked at Hoover Clinic. Elected to the National Honor Society in 1939, Wilkerson lettered in football and track and was active in student affairs. He is best remembered for scoring six touchdowns in the Red Streaks' 41-0 victory over city rival Garfield on Thanksgiving Day 1938. Though he weighed only 140 pounds, Ed earned a football scholarship to the University of Iowa, where he studied pre-medicine and ran college track. While a student in Iowa City, he met Janet Sessoms, a graduate student from Washington, Ga., who became his wife on Nov. 29, 1946. Meanwhile, Wilkerson graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. A few weeks after the marriage ceremony, the Wilkersons moved to 2201 Spruce St. in Terre Haute. Dr. Wilkerson served on staffs of Hoover Sanitarium and St. Anthony's Hospital while maintaining an office at Fourth and Wabash. On July 25, 1949, Janet gave birth to Freda, their first child. Daughter Joyce was born Aug. 21, 1950. Son Edward Lee Jr. arrived on July 27, 1953, six weeks before his father departed for Dexheim, Germany, to serve as surgeon with the Second Armored Division during the Korean War. Janet and the children joined him later. When he was discharged in 1956, Ed and his family settled in Cleveland, where he was a surgery resident at Case Western Reserve University. Soon he established a private practice and was appointed professor of surgery at the medical school. Daughter Elizabeth was born in Cleveland before the family situated in Shaker Heights. Dr. Wilkerson quickly established himself as a community leader, inspiring an initiative to renovate Madonna Hall Nursing Home and founding Medics Inc. to build a four-story Cleveland office building. Glenco Inc., a pioneer minority enterprise small business investment corporation organized in 1973, provided capital to keep Cleveland's first interracial medical center open. A professor emeritus of surgery at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Dr. Wilkerson died suddenly May 8, 2006, at age 84 in Shaker Heights. The Wilkersons' four children perpetuate a remarkable legacy. Freda Wilkerson Bass is a board member of the Houston (Tex.) Zoo. Joyce, a graduate of University of California Law School, is chief of staff to Philadelphia Mayor John Street. Founder and director of the Chicago jazz group "8 Bold Souls," Ed is a music teacher. Elizabeth, a graduate of Harvard University with MBA and JD degrees from Stanford University, specializes in the legal and financial aspects of international business ventures while residing in Mountain View, Cal.AAlways Close to Homewww.first-online.com MEMBER FDICYou'll find First Financial Bank in these and other cities and towns near you: Terre Haute 238-6000 Brazil 443-4481 Rockville 765-569-3171 Clinton 832-3504 Sullivan 268-3331 Marshall, Illinois 217-826-6311 Robinson, Illinois 618-544-8666 |
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Origin: | 2006-07-25 |
Created By: |
McCormick, Mike |
Publisher: |
Terre Haute Tribune-Star |
Source: |
http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/vchs/id/1467 |
Collection: |
Vigo County Historical Society |
Rights: | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/ |
Copyright: |
Copyright Undetermined |
Subjects: |
Wilkerson, Edward Lee, 1921-2006 Physicians People |
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