Wichita Bishop J.C. Gilkey Sr. dies at age 82

As a man of faith, Bishop J.C. Gilkey Sr. wanted the best for the people he served.

“He was a people person, he wanted to see people succeed,” said his son, Bishop Mark Gilkey of Wichita. “He was a man of faith.”

J.C. Gilkey, former minister of St. Marks Church of God in Christ for 49 years and bishop of the Kansas Southwest Church of God in Christ Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction for 20 years, died May 3. He was 82.

The Kansas Southwest Jurisdictional Church of God in Christ service will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Marks Church of God in Christ, 1018 N. Dellrose. The National Church of God in Christ service with speaker Charles Blake, the worldwide Church of God in Christ bishop, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mark United Methodist Church, 1525 N. Lorraine. A viewing will be from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday before the service.

The Rev. Gilkey was born on June 14, 1932, in Checotah, Okla. At age 4, his family moved to Wichita. By the time he was a teenager, he had become somewhat of a local boxing champion, having competed in 90 matches with 50 knockouts and losing only three matches.

In 1950, he met the woman he would later marry, Gladys Atkins, at a local skating rink. Three years later as his young wife was attending a service at the Mount Olive Church of God in Christ, he had a conversion experience and later that year began training to become a minister. In 1960, the Rev. Gilkey began the St. Marks Church of God in Christ at 17th and Spruce. His congregation in the early days was mostly family members. But as more families became involved, the church moved to 21st and Maplewood and then later to Dellrose.

In the early 1970s when racial tensions and riots broke out across the nation and in Wichita, the Rev. Gilkey played a pivotal calming role.

“He walked 21st Street when people had taken to the streets” his son said. “He yelled ‘Put down those rocks. Put down those bottles and go home.’ One young man was chased by police into an alley. The police had pulled their guns, and he shouted, ‘Don’t you shoot that young man.’ Years later, that man came up to him and told him ‘Bishop, you saved me.’ I was a kid then and remember thinking of him as brave, righteous and dedicated.”

It was also a time when the Gilkey family received threatening calls at the house, his son said.

The Rev. Gilkey worked at Gates Learjet until he was 40, retiring in 1972 when the church had grown so much it needed a full-time minister. While at Learjet, he became the first African-American in the Midwest to hold a supervisory position in the aircraft industry, according to a Wichita Eagle article from 2000.

In 1985, he became bishop of the Kansas Southwest Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ. He became a nationally known speaker at conventions.

“He was a man full of great wisdom and was very influential and known across the country for his stance and beliefs in God,” Mark Gilkey said.

The Rev. Gilkey was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was president of the Northeast Community Task Force, was chairman of his neighborhood Citizens Participation Organization and served as a board member at Hill Haven Nursing Center.

The Rev. Gilkey is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law J.C. and Linda Gilkey Jr., Allen and Barbara Gilkey and Mark and Virdena Gilkey; daughters Pamela S. Gilkey-Berry and Tina R. Gilkey; sisters Carolyn Gilkey and Ruby Wytch; brothers Luther Gilkey, Curtis Levi Gilkey and Richard Gilkey; 16 grandchildren; and 27 great-grandchildren.

This story was originally published May 11, 2015 at 8:41 PM with the headline "Wichita Bishop J.C. Gilkey Sr. dies at age 82."