Planned Giving

Donor Stories

Bonnie BurkettWhen I was a senior at Erskine, I wrote a poem about Erskine that began, "Ephemeral lady, what is it about you?"
   To this day, I still don't know the answer. Is it the chemistry professor I called at home when my grandmother died who worked with me on my final exam?
   Or, is the lifetime friendship that started in the freshman dorm? Was it the consistently high expectations academically, or the intramural games after dinner?
   All I know is that my Erskine education, in class and out, is one I can easily share with pride among my friends. I know I earned my degree, but the lessons of Due West extend far beyond any piece of paper.
   I give to Erskine because I was able to attend Erskine on the kindness of those who gave before me. When you give to Erskine, you are truly "paying it forward."

 

General H. Lloyd Wilkerson and wife JeanneMajor General H. Lloyd Wilkerson and his wife Jeanne have always believed in giving back to society with resources and personal time. The traits that he learned as a young man growing up in Tennessee and as a student at Erskine took him from Due West to foreign assignments around the world as a Marine officer. Never did he forget his days as an undergraduate at Erskine and how it prepared him for the responsibilities he assumed. Because of these experiences at Erskine, he and Jeanne have continued to be consistent contributors to the Erskine Annual Fund as well as other needed projects. They encourage you to give as you are able to continue the work of our special institution.
   H. Lloyd Wilkerson was born in Troy, Tennessee, on October 31, 1919. He was a member of the class of 1941 of Erskine College, where he received a BA in Mathematics and English. He has served Erskine in many capacities as an alumnus – being elected to serve as Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1985 through 1987. In recognition of his service to Erskine, he received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award on May 18, 1985, the Distinguished Service Award in 1988, and the Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree on May 19, 1996.
To sum up his highly successful military career, one only needs to point out that he enlisted in the Marine Corps at the outbreak of World War II as a private and retired on May 31, 1978, as a Major General. He later served the state of North Carolina as a member of the Governor’s Commission for Military Affairs, 1981–91.
   An active member of the Episcopalian Church, he served as a member of the Episcopal Foundation of the Diocese of East Carolina (1980–84). In community affairs, he has served on the Board of Directors of the Jacksonville Rotary Club, the Board of the Coastal Carolina Community College Foundation, as a Trustee of Onslow County Public Library, and a member of the Jacksonville Board of Realtors. Lloyd and his wife currently live at the Masonic Home in Greensboro, NC.