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ORAL HISTORY
Jan Gillikin
Sarah Janet Willis Gillikin, born in 1939, is a Harkers Island native. Most people who know “Miss Jan,” know her food well. Her crab cakes and milk pies are notable in Carteret County. She is a celebrated cook and a prolific contributor to Island Born and Bred, one of the island’s community cookbooks, written by the women of Harkers Island United Methodist Church.
Published in 1986, the book is a vivid portrait of the Harkers Island community, filled with island history, memories, and recipes. Mrs. Gillikin credits her home economics class at Smyrna Consolidated School for the encouragement of her cooking life, where she learned to play with recipes, adjusting and tweaking them to her liking.
She married Walker Gillikin in 1957, and enjoyed fifty-seven years of marriage until his death in February 2016. Mrs. Gillkin is the mother of Craig Gillikin, Willa Rothrock, and Jonathan Gillikin.