 Click here to visit the Ralph D. Wilkinson Photo Album
Ralph D. Wilkinson was a Plank-owner on the USS Spangler. As a member of the Commissioning crew he stayed with the ship until January of 1946. After the war ended, he returned from the Pacific to Williamson West Virginia on leave in November 1945, at which time he married his sweetheart Agnes Coffey of Williamson, WV, they later had three daughters, Donna, Jenny, and Pamela. He then returned to duty in California until he was discharged in March 1946. Using the GI Bill he received training at the Maynard Machine and Electric Company, working there until January 1949. He then returned to Williamson WV and went to work as a hydraulic tool and die machinist for ACME Machinery in Williamson making hydraulic equipment for the mining industry. He worked there 20 years until he retired to Nokomis, Florida in 1970. Not being able to sit still he decided to become a firefighter with the Nokomis Fire Dept. in 1972, working is way up to Chief of the Dept. he retired permanently in 1987. He spent the next 15 years taking it easy, watching his grandchildren and great grandchildren grow up. He spoke often of his days in the Navy. About his shipmates, what they did, where they traveled to and after listening to those stories all those years, when it came time for me to serve, I chose the Navy. I currently serve as a Chief with the 14th Seabee Battalion in Florida. Ralph was active in the Venice/Nokomis community. He was a member of the American Legion, VFW, Life member of the DAV and the local Masonic Lodge. He passed away as a result of a stroke on January 15th, 2003. His widow, my grandmother now lives with me in Nokomis, Florida and is doing well at the age of 83.
Submitted in love and respect by his grandson, Stephen Clark, MTC, 14th Seabee Battalion,
NAS Jacksonville.Click here to visit the Ralph D. Wilkinson Photo Album
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