Dennis Jilka
Dennis Richard Jilka, 45, died peacefully
at his home in Cotati, California on January 8, 1998.
Dennis was born in Monroe, Michigan on February 20, 1952 just before his parents moved to St. Johns. His father, Frank Jilka, was the band director for the St. Johns Schools.
Dennis was 10 when the family
moved to California. He attended Concord schools and served in the Army for two years
before studying psychology at San Francisco State and Sonoma State universities. An avid
pilot of small planes, he and his wife, Deborah Neidhart Jilka, were married in May 1984
at the Sonoma County Airport.
Dennis was diagnosed as having the virus that causes AIDS in 1985, but he didn't let his medical problems slow him down, his wife said. "Many years ago, I made some bad choices in my lifestyle and now I'm fighting AIDS," he told his local newspaper, the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, California. "When you are in a position such as mine, you tend to think a lot about your life. You think about what you wish you could do over again and you also bask in the joy of some of the great experiences over the years."
Dennis worked as a sales representative for Motorola and Jack Daniels, and most recently was western sales manager for a New York-based closed-circuit television company. He also was a frequent contributor to the editorial page of his local newspaper, writing letters on topics that ranged from the Iran-Contra scandal to gun control, from OJ Simpson to Princess Diane.
"He was a very opinionated personality," his wife said. "He had an opinion about everything, and he wasn't one to sit and do nothing about it." Philosophically opposed to rent control, he still served on Cotati's Rent Control Board. An affinity for Japanese culture prompted him to lead a successful fight to add foreign-language television programming to Cotati's cable television system. He and his wife hosted a number of Japanese exchange students, and he volunteered his time as an adviser to the Young Buddhist Association and to an AIDS support organization, Face to Face. "God knows the world needs more people blessed with so much courage and dignity, so much humor and kindness and modesty," wrote the Press Democrat.
Dennis became active in the Buddhist religion in the mid-1980s and served as a board member and later president of Enmanji Buddhist Temple in Sebastopol. "Buddhism was a love, an absolute passion for him," said his wife. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his parents, Daisy Jilka and Frank Jilka of Sebastopol; his brothers, Greg Jilka of Sebastopol and Steve Jilka at San Diego; his sisters, Suzanne Jilka Albin of Sebastopol and Mary Jilka Moore of San Diego; and many nieces and nephews. Services were held January 15 at the Enmanji Buddhist Temple. Contributions may be made to Face to Face; Home Hospice of Sonoma County or Food for Thought of Forestville.