Jarel Dean "J.D." Wilkinson

Jarel Dean "J.D." Wilkinson of Richardson, Texas, formerly of Nevada, died Monday, Oct. 6, 2008, at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, Texas. He was 83 and suffered from kidney failure. Private cremation and interment will be held later at Lake Cemetery in Lamar, Mo.

Jarel Wilkinson was born Aug. 7, 1925, in Somers, Iowa, to Nina Day Wilkinson and Walter Howard Wilkinson. He attended high school in Lamar, Missouri and, following service in the United States Navy as a Pharmacist Mate 1st Class, he married Marilyn Rue Dial, on Oct. 26, 1946, in Fort Scott, Kan.

He was graduated from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Missouri, in Kansas City, and there began his career as a pharmacist with Katz and Bruce Smith Drugs. In 1964 he bought Wiggs Drug Store on the North side of the Square in Nevada, later changing the business name to Wilkinson Pharmacy. In 1973 he purchased Ken Reynolds Pharmacy in Joplin; during his 20 years of residency there, until moving to Texas, he also acquired pharmacies in Carterville and Carthage.

J.D. loved fishing. More than fishing, he loved to garden; annually he competed in an unspoken contest to grow the earliest tomato. More than gardening, J.D. loved people -- and people loved him. He knew all of his customers by name; he endeared himself to others with his optimism, sense of humor, and his private propensity to lend a helping hand.

Mr. Wilkinson is survived by his wife, Marilyn Wilkinson, Richardson, Texas; two daughters, Tamara Golubski, Richardson, Texas, and Lisa Bolin, Dallas, Texas; one granddaughter, Claire; one brother, Robert Wilkinson, Chillicothe, Ill., and one sister, Bonnie Samuels, Springfield, Mo.