Maureen Wilkens (left) and Kathy McNamara (right) at the Science and Engineering Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony (4Cs Communications Office)
By Jayden Johnson
Maureen Wilkens, a longtime benefactor of Cape Cod Community College, is being remembered as a compassionate and generous supporter whose legacy will live on through scholarships, campus buildings and the lives she touched.
Wilkens died recently at age 90. Born Aug. 2, 1934, in Winthrop, Massachusetts, she was the third child of Jeremiah and Miriam Murphy. She was married to Frank Wilkens Jr. for 52 years before his passing, and together they raised four sons. They moved to Cape Cod in 1991 after Frank’s retirement.
Together, the Wilkens couple became key figures in the Cape Cod Community College Foundation. Their donations have provided more than $14 million in support of students and infrastructure, according to college president John Cox.
“Maureen Wilkens is among the most prolific individual donors in the history of America’s community colleges,” Cox wrote in a campuswide message. “Across the landscape of community colleges, this number is historic and unprecedented.”
The couple’s generosity helped establish multiple scholarships, including 10 annual $4,000 awards specifically for single parents. Their contributions also funded extensive renovations across campus, with several buildings bearing the Wilkens name.
