WILKES, Gay B.

February 28, 1918-July 12, 2014 

Gay Barr Wilkes was born in Bowie, Texas, on February 28, 1918. She often said she was the luckiest person in the world because born five minutes ahead of her was her identical twin, Fay Barr Kastelic, her lifelong best friend. Around Bowie, they were known simply as the "Barr Twins." In 1938, with $50 each in their pockets, they left for Austin and enrolled at the University of Texas. 

Gay left college in 1941 to marry the man for whom she held the deepest love and respect, the newly graduated civil engineer, Jack Wilkes. They moved to Washington D.C., where both worked for the Navy Department. In 1947, Jack left for Manila, Philippines, to serve as a bridge engineer for the Bureau of Public Roads. Six months later, Gay followed with their two little girls. 

In 1950, the family returned to Austin, Texas. When her third daughter entered kindergarten, Gay headed back to UT to finish her degree, a life ambition and, in her words, the highlight of her education. She then forged a career in teaching, first substituting at Fulmore Junior High for a teacher on maternity leave - Ann Richards, the future governor of Texas. Elected to Delta Kappa Gamma, an honorary teaching organization, she then taught for four years at Martin Middle School in Raleigh, N.C., where she helped push for a long-overdue teacher pay raise; and for 14 years at Annandale High School in Annandale, Va., where she won Teacher of the Year several times. Through teaching, she shaped thousands of lives, all the while making the profession sound like the most fun job in the world. 

Gay loved teaching geography. Ever the pusher of boundaries, she subscribed to "USSR," a propaganda magazine, for use in her classroom; she proudly thought that the subscription landed her on a CIA list of suspicious characters. She later visited Russia, and she was one of the first American citizens to gain permission to travel in China in 1976, when the gates at Canton opened.  

Returning to Austin in the mid-80's, Jack died in 2004 of cancer, In a miraculous coincidence, Gay and Fay suffered identical strokes on the same day in 2010, 800 miles apart. Fay died four days later. Lovingly cared for in her home, Gay died peacefully on July 12, 2014.