Nathaniel Wilkerson, 74; moved north to give family a better life

When Nathaniel Wilkerson decided to leave his home in Arkansas and the segregation of the Deep South, he moved north with high hopes for a better life, education, and opportunities for his children.

His daughter Patricia of Springfield said her father gave his children that opportunity to forge better lives. He was proud of what they accomplished.

"I'm sure it was tough, leaving other family members behind in Arkansas, but he did it to give us a better life. He always had a quiet strength," she said.

Mr. Wilkerson, a former custodian and bakery worker, died April 9 in his home in Springfield after a four-year battle with colon and rectal cancer. He was 74 .

He was t he ninth of 10 children born and brought up on the outskirts of Pine Bluff, Ark . Mr. Wilkerson left the area with his older brother Willie in 1954, relocating his family to Springfield.

It was a decision he never regretted, said state Senator Dianne Wilkerson, his daughter.

"There were harrowing stories about incidents that we would hear all of the time as youngsters, and that provoked the family decision that my father and his brother would leave," Dianne Wilkerson said. "It was just difficult then. It was a different time and place.

Within days of arriving in Springfield, Mr. Wilkerson joined Third Baptist Church. In 2004 , the church celebrated his 50-year anniversary as a patron, as well as his services as a custodian, usher, and member of the choir .

Nathaniel Smith Sr. , pastor of Third Baptist Church, described Mr. Wilkerson as a humble man.

"He was a kind and neighborly person, a very hard working, family-oriented, Christian man who was strong in what he believed," Smith said.

Mr. Wilkerson worked as a cook in several bakeries in the late 1950s , including Koffee Kup Bakery , according to his wife, Charlotte (Robinson) . His specialties were sweet potato pie and okra with tomatoes.

He retired from Springfield Municipal Hospital in 1995 as a custodian and maintenance laborer after working there for 29 years. "He was extremely hard-working, and his children saw that in him," his wife said. "He did what he had to do when he had to do it and complained very little. He was a fighter, said he would never give up."

Mr. Wilkerson enjoyed fishing in the Quabbin Reservoir and tended vegetable gardens around his home and in a public plot in nearby Agawam. He was an avid Red Sox fan, his family said.

In addition to his wife and two daughters, Mr. Wilkerson leaves three sons, Theodore of Xenia, Ohio, Kenneth of New Hampshire, and Kelly of Springfield; three other daughters, Evelyn of Newark, Del ., Lannette Thomas of Atlanta, and Naomi Park of Springfield; two brothers, James and Julius , both of Pine Bluff ; two sisters, Gladys Woodson and Ruby Battles of Pine Bluff ; 15 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held tomorrow at 11 a.m. in Third Baptist Church in Springfield. Burial will be in Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield. A bus to the funeral will leave at 8 a.m. from People's Baptist Church in Boston.