Ex-teacher loves to make people laugh

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October 21, 2009

BY DENNIS BARTLOW The Commercial-News Wed Oct 21, 2009, 08:58 PM CDT

COVINGTON, Ind. — As a school teacher, Marsha Wilkinson came off as stern.

Give her a microphone and an audience, and she is an entirely different person.

Several Covington area residents saw her “funny side” recently at the annual benefit for the Friendship Circle Center.

“She was hilarious,” said Jane Bowers, director of the senior center. “The crowd laughed a lot and thought she was wonderful.”

Wilkinson said she loves to see people smile.

“I just start telling jokes,” she said. “I try to put some names into it.”

She asked Bowers for a list of those who were attending the benefit and worked about 20 of those into her presentation.

“It is a gift,” she said. “I don’t come across as a comedian.”

She figures she does six to eight presentations a year, primarily at mother-daughter banquets and other church events. Senior citizens are another special group for her.

Her comedy days began about 35 years ago when she and her husband, Bill, were asked to give a program at their church, First Baptist Church in Danville.

“I was Maude; he was Claude,” she said. “We probably did it every two or three years.”

It was a hit, and they continued it as long as they could. When her husband became sick about eight years ago, Maude continued with a phone as a prop. Later she dropped Maude and started doing the stand up comedy.

“People say, ‘We had no idea you were so funny,’” Wilkinson said.

“I am careful what I choose,” she said.

Bowers said one of the attendees at the senior center suggested having Wilkinson come to the center for presentations. She has gone in the summers for several years.

A few months ago, Bowers asked her to give her comedy between musical sets at the annual benefit.

Former residents of Catlin, the Wilkinsons moved to Covington, Ind., about 12 years ago and operated a bed and breakfast until her husband’s health forced them to move to a place that was more accessible. They became involved in First Baptist Church of Covington. Her husband and a daughter are now deceased.

Wilkinson taught for 35 years, primarily at First Baptist Christian School in Danville and later in the Covington schools, where she retired in 2006.

She is a member of the Covington-Veedersburg Library Board and the Covington Christian School Board. She is a facilitator for GriefShare at Second Church of Christ in Danville and First Baptist Church in Covington.

“I enjoy the humor, but I am not afraid to grieve,” she said. “As long as God opens doors, I will continue.

“I love that element of surprise.”

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