Joel A. Wilks

Joel Anthony Wilks, 76, of East Hampton, passed away peacefully at The Hospital of Central Connecticut on the morning of October 16 after a long illness with his loving family by his side. Born August 8, 1946, in New Britain he was the son of the late Joseph and Agnes (Hudak) Wilks. Throughout his life Joel was involved with the Catholic Church starting as an altar boy and lector at All Saints Church in New Britain. In later years he helped collect donations during services at St. John's Church in Middletown. Growing up he loved playing all sports and notably was proud to be a quarterback for New Britain High School which he graduated from in 1964. After receiving his degree from CCSU in 1969 he began teaching at East Hampton High School where he met his beloved wife of 50 years, Lynne (Boynton) Wilks. 

 He absolutely loved being a teacher and very much enjoyed running into his former students.  With regret he left this position in 1981 to be better able to support his growing family as a Master Planner at Pratt & Whitney where he enjoyed meeting new friends until his retirement in 2008. He took an interest in Amateur Radio at age 13 and continued with it his entire life.  His call sign was AK1N.  A prior member of the Middlesex Amateur Radio Society in Portland, he was an accomplished CW and phone operator, involved in countless ham radio contests and was recognized for having contacted someone in every country of the world.  In his retirement he volunteered at the Newington Amateur Radio League and for MILE at Middlesex Community College.  He would want to send a “73” to all his ham contacts. He enjoyed traveling with his wife to Egypt, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Panama Canal, cruising to many of the Caribbean Islands and visiting all 50 states.  Summers often found him at Great Diamond Island in Maine spending time with his family and also enjoying time at the casinos.  He loved all animals and enjoyed taking his dog Mya and later Abby for walks. He watched and attended many sporting events but most notably the UConn women’s and men’s basketball teams, the Boston Red Sox, and NY Giants. Besides his wife, he is also survived by his two children of whom he was always extremely proud, Joel B. Wilks (Robin) of East Hampton and Tracy Cummings of Portland.  He dearly loved being the grandfather of Zoey and Jackson Wilks, and Kaelyn and Connor Cummings. He enjoyed watching them in all their activities including sports and theater. 

He also leaves his ex-son-in-law William Cummings, his sister-in-law Anne B. Morse (Phil) of Arkansas, nephews Dana Morse, David Morse (Sindee), and Robert Gelazin, nieces Lynn Cantafi (Tom), Lisa Scotella (Jerry), Andrea Kobruck (William) and many great nieces, great nephews and cousins. He was predeceased by his parents Joseph and Agnes Wilks, his in-laws George and Theresa Boynton, sisters Sheila Wilks Pinto (Michael) and Dianne Wilks Gelazin (Robert). The family is very grateful to Dr. Brian Byrne and his staff at the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute for the excellent care and compassion shown to Joel. A special thank you to our children Tracy and Joel for loving us, helping us, and supporting us in every way. Also, a special thank you to both William Cummings and Robin Wilks both of whom were always on-call and ready to help. Friends may call at the Spencer Funeral Home, 112 Main St., East Hampton on Friday Oct. 21st from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday Oct. 22nd at 11:00 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Church in East Hampton. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you might donate in Joel’s name to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at www.jdrf.org.  

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