Meet Bill

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​​Bill Wilke has long loved his home county of Haywood, North Carolina, and our nation. After being assigned with the North Carolina National Guard in Western North Carolina in 1997, he moved to and raised his family in Canton. He served his country in various roles for the Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard over the course of thirty-one years and nine months, finally retiring as a Colonel in the summer of 2021 from the Army Reserve. During the course of that time, he also trained and deployed as a civil affairs staff officer to the nation of Iraq. He has served with honor in each responsibility applying the principles of leadership, integrity, and strength throughout.

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Bill is a husband to his wife Shelia for over 25 years. Together they have been parents, foster parents, grandparents, and a law enforcement family. Bill served with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as a law enforcement special response chaplain in the years leading up to his taking office. 

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Bill and Shelia’s son, Garrett, is a graduate of Haywood Early College. He attended The Citadel, and after graduating in 2017, now serves as a Captain in the United States Army Engineers and is about to finish his company command tenure. 

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Bill and Shelia’s daughter, Lauren, is a third-year resident physician out of state and plans to serve in underdeveloped areas of the world as a tending physician in the next several months. She is married to her husband, Paulo, who is currently studying Aeronautics Engineering.