WILMA CHILES

May 23, 1919 – March 21, 2005

Wilma Chiles, longtime San Diego area resident, child of the flu pandemic of 1918-19, adolescent witness to the Great Depression, wartime defense worker, major contributor to the baby boom, post-war homemaker, and lifelong Christian, died March 21 after a brief illness. In an almost scripted fashion, she passed quietly in the presence of her pastor, Robert Mentze, and her daughter, Karen Stevens, of La Mesa.

Mrs. Chiles, 85, had lived in Santee since the death of her husband, Arthur L. Chiles, in 1997. Prior to that, they had spent their retirement in Idyllwild. Mrs. Chiles reared five children born between 1945 and 1958. Besides Mrs. Stevens, they include David Chiles of Santee, Larry Chiles of Twentynine Palms, and Kathy Wilson of Aptos, California.

Born Wilma Ann Goodwin on the family farm in Homewood, Kansas, Mrs. Chiles was raised in Trinidad, Colorado. She was among nine students from the western states selected for a scholarship to nursing school. She then attended Ottawa University in Kansas and taught school for one year in Cokedale, Colorado.

Miss Goodwin moved to Tucson in 1942 to tutor her cousin. In 1943 she took a job at the newly constructed Marana Air Base, an Army Air Force training facility. That same year, Mr. Chiles and an asthmatic friend left New York for the curative climate of the west. Their car got as far as Tucson before breaking down. The two buddies rented a room from Miss Goodwin’s aunt, who invited her niece over for homemade ice cream and a date with destiny.

Mr. Chiles returned to New York for a year, exchanging letters with Miss Goodwin. The two married on April 9, 1944, and came to San Diego that year. They eventually settled in Lakeside in 1955 and lived in El Cajon from 1973 to 1986.

Mrs. Chiles was a member of the Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church. She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star and Past Guardian of Bethel 309, Lakeside, of the International Order of Job’s Daughters.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 16, at 10:00 a.m., at the Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church or the Lakeside Historical Society.