Obituary of Janet Mary Burgess Wilkerson

Captain Janet is a survivor and a true story of redemption and regenerative life. �She was born, Janet Warnken, on January 13, 1959 at Middlesex Hospital in the West End of London. Her parents were working class people from the London Borough of Tottenham. Things were rocky for Janet right from the start as her parents were breaking up soon after she was born. The pain of abandonment was a lifelong theme in Janet's personality as her mother literally left her on a doorstep at midnight when she was not quite two years old: rang the doorbell and stole away. Janet was raised by her Scottish Grandmother. She made attempts to live with her different parents at times growing up but was the subject of abuse and neglect when she did so. Seems no one wanted Janet around. Childhood and adolescence were very difficult and unsettled. As you might expect Janet spent her youth getting into trouble. As is common with young British women, she went boozing and carousing every night. She became an alcoholic and a heroin addict. She spent some time smuggling drugs into England from North Africa. She met her first husband, John Burgess (who was an outlaw biker), while engaged in this lifestyle and spent the next 13 years riding with Hells Angels. �Things that cannot go on forever eventually stop and the fast/hard living eventually caught up with Janet. Janet immigrated to America in 1990 with her husband. They settled in Santa Monica, California. It was here that she overdosed on heroin and alcohol. She was pronounced dead in the Emergency Room. They put a sheet over her and wheeled her away. To everyone's surprise, she woke up about 45 minutes later. This was literally a "wake-up call" for Janet. Janet finally began to understand that she was going to have to change or die. Shortly thereafter, her husband John was killed in a motorcycle accident on Sunset Boulevard. This double shock to her system put her into a deep suicidal depression. She spent the next 18 months trying to figure out if life was worth living and what to do. The final shock came in January 1994, when the Northridge Earthquake completely destroyed the apartment building in which she was living in Santa Monica. She was now homeless and penny-less, without any possessions and nowhere to go. This was the story of her life, she thought - abandoned, beat down and unwanted.�It was during this period that she encountered her future husband, Eric Wilkerson. Eric was enduring his own brokenness experience. A Citrus grower in the Central Valley of California, his life had been completely destroyed by the California Farm Disaster of 1990, which had frozen out and decimated the Citrus Industry in California. As a result, he had lost everything. He too found himself homeless and penny-less in Santa Monica, his original hometown. Eric had been recently attending The Salvation Army in Santa Monica, where his journey of recovery had already begun. He invited Janet. Reluctantly, she came. She came and there she found her Lord Jesus. Unlike the world, Jesus wanted her. The Lord spoke to her and told her He would never leave or forsake her. She came to believe that this Power, greater than herself, actually loved her and could restore her life and sanity. So, she went to the alter and accepted Jesus into her life. The change began immediately. Her life now had meaning and purpose. She grew spiritually and developed as a person in amazing ways. �In the meantime, Janet and Eric were bonding in a committed relationship. It was clear to them both that God had not thrown them together by accident. There was purpose in their meeting and a future for them together. A call to Salvation Army Officer ship was clearly manifesting itself independently in both of their lives. The day came when they confessed to each other this call. It was now abundantly clear what they must do with the rest of their lives. Janet and Eric were married. They went into full time ministry together. They were commissioned Salvation Army Officers in June of 2002. Unusually, they were commissioned right into Recovery Ministry at the Adult Rehabilitation Centers, The Salvation Army's addiction recovery program. There they experienced the joy of helping others recover their lives from the scourge of drugs and alcohol and assisted all who were willing to find their Lord Jesus, as they had done. �Janet loved the work and the program beneficiaries. The men in the program loved her. But it was not just the men. She did important work with the families and spouses of the men in the program as well. Janet was liked by all she touched with her ministry. Janet worked and ministered at many recovery centers on the West Coast, both as a Soldier and as an Officer in The Salvation Army, including those located at Santa Monica, Anaheim, Long Beach, San Francisco, Bakersfield and Sacramento. Perhaps she is best remembered for her role as Director of Special Services at Colorado Springs and Portland ARC. And she was happy and fulfilled finally in her life.�Regrettably, the latter years of Janet's life were defined by a terrible chronic debilitating illness, Multiple Sclerosis. Although it had been suggested that she had the malady as early as 1996, she had few, if any, manifestations of the disease until 2009. In 2009 Janet contracted a serious cancer, which might have killed her. Janet survived the cancer and made a complete cancer free recovery, however, the Chemotherapy and Radiation Treatments appeared to greatly exacerbate her Multiple Sclerosis. She had progressing disability from that time forward. Soon she was using wheelchairs and walkers. There was also much fatigue and pain. It was necessary to go on medical leave for a while in 2011. After a medication reset the work of ministry was rejoined in Corps Work in the Intermountain Division of The Salvation Army at Aurora, Colorado and Colorado Springs. By the end of 2014, however Janet was no longer able to function at the office. Janet was honorably retired early in January of 2015. By the Spring of 2016, Janet was paralyzed from the waist down and could no longer walk. She became bedridden and spent the last three years of her life in long term care.�Janet suffered much but she never lost her love for the work of recovery and salvation or the men and women in the drug and alcohol programs that she worked in. She also never lost her love for our Lord nor did she ever blame him for her suffering.�Janet's favorite passage of scripture comes to us from 2nd Corinthians. In the 4th Chapter at verses 8 & 9 we read:�We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. �That is how she felt about her life. She was hard pressed on every side, but she kept going. And that is what she would tell you. Despite any affliction or circumstances, choose life and pursue Christ by any road, by any means at any cost.�Farewell and God bless you Captain Janet Burgess Wilkerson of The Salvation Army. Rest in the peace of your victory in Jesus.Interment, Evergreen Cemetery, 1005 Hancock Expressway, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903. Events Final Resting Place Evergreen Cemetery 1005 Hancock Expressway Colorado Springs, CO 80903