Robert “Bob” M. Wilkes, who served as the interim president of BYU–Idaho from 2004 to 2005, died Thursday, June 20, 2024, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He was 84.
After BYU–Idaho President David A. Bednar was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in October 2004, Wilkes, who was 64 at the time and retired, was invited to return and serve as the interim president until Kim B. Clark’s installation as university president in August 2005.
“It’s a humbling thing,” President Wilkes told the Church News of his appointment. “You have a sense when you’re asked to do something by the leaders of the Church, especially President [Gordon B.] Hinckley, the way will open up and you’ll be able to do as you’re asked. That’s our faith and the way we’ve approached this.”
Wilkes first came to the Rexburg, Idaho, campus in 1970 as a faculty member in the Religion Department of Ricks College, the predecessor to BYU–Idaho.
Through the years, he served as chairman of the Department of Recreation Education, chairman of the Division of Religious and Family Living, and chairman of the Division of Education. After serving for three years as a mission leader, he returned to the Church-owned university as vice president of Student Life, where he played a key role in the transition of Ricks College to BYU–Idaho.
In a Church News article in 2021, Wilkes recalled the day President Bednar came to his office in the Kimball Building on Ricks College campus to ask what he thought about the two-year college becoming a four-year university and offering bachelor’s degrees.
“I said, ‘That would never work,’” Wilkes recalled telling President Bednar and then listing his reasons.
President Bednar listened, Wilkes said, and then asked, “Would it make any difference if you knew that President Hinckley thought it might be a good time to do that?”
“I said, ‘That would make all the difference, President.’”
In introducing Wilkes as the interim president during a devotional on Nov. 16, 2004, Elder Bednar said, “My heart rejoices in the blessing that President Wilkes and his good wife, Estella, will be to this campus as they serve.” He added, “Brother Wilkes has long been regarded on this campus as one of the finest teachers who has ever been.”
Wilkes served as a bishop, stake president, regional representative, president of the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission from 1995 to 1998 and president of the Billings Montana Temple from 2005-2008, as well as a sealer in the Idaho Falls temple for 15 years.
His obituary says, “Bob was a dedicated and faithful servant of the Lord, Jesus Christ. He had a strong testimony of the Savior and considered it an honor to serve.”
Robert Murray Wilkes was born to Murray and Lucy Wilkes in Afton, Wyoming, on Jan. 25, 1940. In 1960 he was called to serve in the Central States Mission. Following his full-time missionary service, he attended Brigham Young University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree. He later completed a master’s degree in education administration from BYU.
He married “his eternal sweetheart,” Estella Woodruff, in the Salt Lake Temple on Sept. 6, 1963. They are the parents of six children.
Wilkes is survived by his wife of 61 years and his children: Elizabeth (Kelly) Burgener, Alison (Thayer) Rogers, Robert (Suzanne) Murray Wilkes Jr., Amanda (Brian) Kingsford, John (Amy) Woodruff Wilkes and Scott (Shelly) Edmond Wilkes; 26 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by two sisters, Carolyn Wilkes and Annette (Larry) Ferguson.
A viewing will be held Friday, June 28, from 6-8 p.m. at the LaBelle 3rd Ward Chapel located at 4223 East 528 North, Rigby, Idaho. A second viewing will be held Saturday, June 29, from 9-10 a.m. in the John Taylor Building on the campus of BYU-Idaho located at 101 East Viking Street, Rexburg, Idaho. Funeral services will be held in the Taylor Chapel from 11-12 a.m. with internment following at the Rexburg Cemetery.
