This year’s Mancos Days Pioneer Queen Joylene “Joy” D. Wilkerson grew up in the Woody Albion Community, sometimes called The Pinyons, which is located about 4 miles northwest of the entrance of Mesa Verde National Park.
Joy’s grandparents, John Hyrum Willden and Anna Emmeline Guymon Willden, had a homestead on 160 acres and started living at Woody Albion around 1905. A friend of Joy’s grandfather started the Summit Reservoir. John Willden got all his brothers and brothers-in-law to take up homesteading there and a community was born. John Willden named it Woody Albion.
Joy’s father, Lewis Edward Willden, also grew up at Woody Albion. He married Joy’s mother in 1926. Joy was born Jan. 13, 1927, and was the oldest of five children. Her siblings are Lewis LaVelle, Floyd, Elizabeth Ann and Idonna Louise. Her brother Lewis passed away in 2014 in Holladay, Utah, and is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Mancos.
Joy spent attended school in Mancos, graduating as valedictorian in 1945. She was awarded several scholarships and had planned to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, but she still needed more money for school.
Joy moved to California to live with her aunt and work in her ice cream parlor for the summer. But just before school started in the fall, Joy got a phone call from Rico, Colorado, asking her to come there to teach junior high students. Joy agreed and rode back to Colorado on a train.
She moved to Rico, which also was the home of her Uncle Bob and Aunt Mary, and taught school there for a year. Then she joined a friend and headed to Provo. Joy saved enough money from teaching and working for her first year at BYU. She worked two jobs and carried a full course load at the university.
After BYU, Joy came home to Colorado to work. She worked at the Montezuma County Treasurer’s Office and several other office jobs. She met and married J.T. Wilkerson, and the couple moved into a home next to J.T.’s parents in the Lakeview area. J.T. worked long hours farming in the summer.
In 1959 their first son, James Corwin, was born. James was named after his father and grandfathers. Four years later, their daughter, Jody Susanne, was born. James lost his battle with cancer at age 37, leaving two small children behind.
Joy began teaching music at Dolores Elementary School in 1965, teaching for four years. She completed her bachelor’s degree at Fort Lewis College, and then was hired to teach music at Mesa Elementary. She taught there for 16 years.
Joy and J.T. manufactured wood products, including wood materials that were used to build McPhee Dam. They built a home on land they owned on the West Fork. The family cared for Joy’s mother, who lived in Mancos, until she passed away in 1995.
Joy and J.T. and the family took some trips over the years, including visiting some of J.T.’s relatives in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. J.T. passed away in November 2011.
People will have the opportunity to meet Joy during Mancos Days this month. The Queen’s Tea is at 1 p.m. July 29 at the Bauer House and is open to the public. The Queen’s Lunch will take place at 11:30 a.m. July 30 at Boyle Park.
The Queen’s Quilt is on display now at Dolores State Bank in Mancos. The quilt is fashioned using fabric from the dresses of previous Mancos Days Pioneer Queens. The quilt will be raffled off during Mancos Days to benefit VFW Auxiliary youth projects. Tickets are $1 or six for $5 and are available at Dolores State Bank or from any VFW Auxiliary member.