SPOKANE, Wash. – Ray Wilkes remembers many details from the World’s Fair, but none more than his wife’s five performances in the Pavillion during the Expo ‘74 celebration.
“She played at Expo for quite a while, pretty close to the tent and the clock tower,” Wilkes said.
Wilkes is the husband of Barbara Deanne, a singer who recorded in Nashville and played shows all across the northwest. Wilkes remembered the first time he saw her play at the American Legion.
“She walked by, and the guys said, ‘Woah, look at her,’ and for the heck of it, I said, hey, that’s my future wife,” Wilkes said.
A few years later, it was his wife. Her daughter, Melanie Brennan, didn’t know she performed until after she passed away last November.
“I was like ‘Dad, I found this letter from Expo saying they wanted to have her perform, and they have five dates on here they were happy to have her.’ and he’s like ‘oh yea she performed there.’ And I was like, ‘well I didn’t know that,’” Brennan said.
Wilkes also played a key role during Expo, getting people to and from downtown Spokane.
“Well I drove a city bus, and I was down there all the time, and I was so proud of her down there, and it was quite a crowd, and Expo was great,” Wilkes said.
Brennan says there is something special about Expo with her family, knowing how much it meant to her parents and the entire city.
“My mom had a part in singing there cause I think it was really important to her, it was this pivotal moment in Expo, like to have Expo here, and she got to be a part of it, and she loved singing so much,” Brennan said
Ray said the best part of Expo for him… was an easy choice.
“Seeing my wife sing was the best part…. I sure miss her,” Wilkes said.
