BRUNSWICK — When Midcoast Senior College had to scramble for a teaching space after it lost its lease last year, president James Wilkes was a driving force in securing the school’s new location at Brunswick Landing.
Wilkes, 72, died Jan. 24 following a brief illness, the college said last week.
“He dearly loved the senior college,” now-president Doug Bates said Friday. “He was very dedicated to (its) success … he left tough shoes to fill.”
Midcoast Senior College is one of 17 senior colleges in Maine. It offers courses during the fall, winter and spring to more than 600 seniors age 50 and older. Subjects include American studies, art history, fiction and poetry, computer skills, architecture, science and more without grades, exams or credit hours.
Wilkes joined the college’s board in 2014 and served as vice president before taking over as president.
“During his tenure, Jim led with vision, discipline, and passion for our mission,” Bates wrote in a statement.
He helped spearhead the college’s new and popular winter term and was interested in helping the school build relationships with local nonprofits, said Donna Marshall, executive director.
He had “notoriously excellent organization,” Bates said, and had high expectations for himself and everyone else, but was a “very friendly, very open” man.
Beyond his work at the college, Bates said Wilkes liked to “get away to do some fishing,” enjoyed traveling with his wife, Nancy, and was “musically inclined.” He was very involved with the First Parish Church, according to his obituary.
“Jim Wilkes was a person of deep compassion and thoughtful reflection,” Rev. Mary Baard said. “He would say to me, ‘I don’t always agree with what you say, but you always give me something to think about.’ I would say the same about Jim. We were both enriched by our conversations with one another.”
He studied both education and invertebrate zoology while in school, began his career in Ohio as a teacher and then superintendent of schools. He also worked as assistant dean for professional development at Ashland University and as an educational facility planner for an architect and engineering firm.
Wilkes was involved with the United Way, Cathance River Education Alliance in Topsham, the Samaritan Regional Hospital System and the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, both in Ohio.
Baard said she was grateful for Wilkes’ ministry in education over the years, “and for the ways he served the wider community wherever he lived.”
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