Growing up on a farm with seven siblings presents a unique childhood experience filled with both rewards and challenges, and this helped prepare Larry Wilkens 1965 for what would come next at the Northwest School of Agriculture and beyond. Though only a few miles from home, being away all week at school starting at the age of 14, living in a dormitory and learning how to manage your time and studies, helped develop skills Wilkens says he carries with him today.
Those skills later led Wilkens to continue his education with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business administration from the University of Minnesota and a master’s in business administration (MBA) from Minnesota State University Mankato, to a career in the U.S. Army, including an assignment in Vietnam and 27+ years in the Army Reserves, a 25-year career as a police officer and lieutenant for the Minneapolis Police Department, an FBI academy member, Hennepin County fraud supervisor, and president of the Anti-Vehicle Crime Association of Minnesota. He’s also stepped up as a community service and volunteer extraordinaire.
Going back to his four years at the NWSA, Wilkens lived in all four corners of the campus in residence halls and fondly remembers rooming with a group of “pranksters.”
“One of my favorite memories was all the camaraderie and prankster stuff that went on there,” he recalled. “You’re in a dormitory setting, learning to get along with people, and you have those guys, especially the upper class, myself included, who wanted to do that. We were so young, 13-14 years old, living away from home, so there’s going to be those kinds of things going on.”
Aside from the pranks, Wilkens enjoyed his mathematics classes, which always seemed to come easy for him, and the mechanical courses like welding and shop. Outside of class, Wilkens, a proud Aggie, was part of the wrestling team his freshman year, helped work on the yearbook his junior and senior years, and participated in piano and basketball, too.
“Conrad Quamme stuck out as a warm, good, helpful teacher,” Wilkens explained. “And Mr. (Bruce) Beresford with soils (class) was one of those guys you could just talk to.”
“I think that was true with the whole campus,” he added. “Like Ma Brown. She was always a delightful person to see and she was there for every meal. The nurse I saw a couple times, too, and she was always there smiling. That’s what the campus was about.”
Following his time at the NWSA, Wilkens, like most farm kids, returned home to help out while also furthering his education and later started his career as a police officer with the City of Minneapolis. Soon thereafter, Wilkens got a notice from the draft board and enlisted in the U.S. Army serving at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and in Vietnam. His military service continued as a member of the Army Reserve for the Fort Snelling metro area, and he was involved in activating a number of military deployments such as Operation Desert Storm. Wilkens was proud to attend the Sergeant Majors Academy and earned the title of Command Sergeant Major.
Once back with the Minneapolis Police Department, Wilkens took advantage of numerous training and education opportunities such as completing course work for his master’s degree, becoming a hostage negotiator on the swat team, and attending the FBI Academy, later retiring as a lieutenant.
“After 25 years with the police department, there are cases that stick with you or come to your mind quickly like instances where officers have been hurt or infants have passed away,” Wilkens shared. “During a hostage negotiator situation, the TV series ‘Cops’ was filming there and those moments were aired on television for many years. It was one of my ‘claims to fame’, and the swat team would use it as a training video.”
Words of advice for future criminal justice students looking to become a police officer, Wilkens says to keep educating yourself even beyond college.
“We are lifetime learners, and all those skills and techniques are evolving so keep learning what you can,” Wilkens suggested. “When I came into law enforcement there were no college or training requirements, and programs were different than they are today. This isn’t going to be the end-all, it’s just the start.”
In retirement, Wilkens continues to learn by watching videos on YouTube of others who have done similar house projects and may be able to teach him how to “do it better and faster”, plus he does handy work for neighbors. He and his wife, Mary (Lindgren), also like to travel and they’ve driven motorcycle in almost every U.S. state, and many provinces in Canada. In fact, the Wilkens’ are taking their annual trip to Alaska soon where they enjoy weeks of fishing. Some of the best times for the Wilkens’ is spending time with their family, which consists of kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids who are spread out over Arizona, Florida, and Minnesota, and watching the younger ones grow and change.
While it’s oftentimes a challenge in your later years to stay in touch with friends from high school, Wilkens stays connected to the Aggies through the reunions and socials, and was quite close with his former roommates and “friends forever” Stan Overgaard 1965 and Conrad Larson 1965. Larson sadly passed away in July 2024. Wilkens also comes back for the annual NWSA All-School Reunions when he can, notably in 2015 when he was named “Top Aggie”, plus he enjoys the reunions and socials in Arizona each year. 2025 marks 60 years since high school graduation for Wilkens and his 1965 classmates, and they’re looking forward to returning to the Crookston campus for the festivities.
