I was profoundly sad to find out yesterday that a wonderful, intelligent, talented man died due to complications from diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition I never knew he had.
Noel Wilks was a gentleman and a scholar. I first met him in middle school, and we were in a play together called I Sincerely Doubt That This Old House is Very Haunted. He played a ghost, and I played the mother of the lead actress. Noel was always kind and polite to me. He always treated me with respect and I in turn treated him the same. This was not often the case amongst other students who were usually malicious, and it was part of what made him stand apart from the herd. I remember when he was elected student body president in eighth grade, a position he very much earned and deserved. He was always a gifted public speaker who not only wrote well but spoke well.
In high school Noel was on the debate team where he competed in Lincoln Douglas events. Unfortunately, he had left the team by the time I joined and competed in Interp events, so we did not get to go to tournaments together. As a freshman, he was cast in the school dramatic play in the fall and had only one line; “Me too.” I was an usher for the play and got to see the performances. He delivered it remarkably well and did what any good actor would do on stage when one does not have much dialogue, he used props and physical actions to bring his character to life. He went on to become the high school student body president, a position he unfortunately later relinquished.
During a couple of summers while I was in college, I had the great misfortune of returning home. I worked full time during those warm months to pay for school, often two jobs, one of them being first a busser and then a waitress at a restaurant called Sophia Maria Browns which served Italian, Mexican and American food. Sometimes I would see Noel come into the establishment, and we would chat briefly. My hope was he would find a way to leave the small-town wasteland where we grew up and go to college which is where he belonged.
After I graduated from the UW, Noel and I crossed paths again. He lived across from me at an apartment complex. I moved there to work on plays at WWU to gain further experience in acting and theatre. While doing so I was again employed as a waitress, despite my vehement hatred of serving people so I could save as much money as possible. My goal was to attend the NSC in NYC where our fellow high school student Brina had studied. Noel often talked about wanting to attend college, which I encouraged him to do. Once the hotel where I waited tables had a Christmas party for the staff. It was a formal event, and Noel was the date of one of the waitresses I worked with. We dressed up and had a lot of fun that night eating a great meal and dancing. A couple years later when I was preparing to leave for the NSC, I gave him some of the items from my apartment. It was heartbreaking to move away from him.
Noel and I crossed paths again occasionally and spoke at all the class reunions I begrudgingly forced myself to attend. It was always worth the misery just to get to see Noel and have a conversation with him. I was hoping to see him again because over time I had changed from acting to writing and thought perhaps I might hand him one of my novels which he would be welcome to read or use to prop up a table leg if necessary.
Sometimes I had the opportunity to speak with Noel on the phone. He was the first to alert me to the unexpected news that our classmate Brian Flemming had died. I remembered the first time I saw Brian in Kindergarten, and the thought that came into my six-year-old mind was, I feel sorry for him. I don’t know why.
The worst part about hearing of Noel’s passing was knowing how much he brought to the world and how much more he had to offer. Noel was not perfect, but he was perfectly wonderful. I knew he was deeply affected by his father’s untimely death, and I had always hoped Noel would not experience an untimely passing as well. Unfortunately, we cannot always get what we hope for. I genuinely wish I had spoken to Noel more. I wish I had known him better. I wish I could have been a better friend. I send his family my deepest condolences and prayers.
Gigi Catches Air 