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Edward Eugene Wilson, Jr.
Little Rock Central
Class of 1962
Little Rock Central
Class of 1962
Edward Eugene Wilson, Jr.
Edward Eugene
January 2, 1944 • October 8, 2022 • Little Rock, AR
EDWARD EUGENE WILSON, a member of the Little Rock Central High School Class of 1962, died January 7, 2023 after a brief illness. He was born June 10, 1944; he was 78 years old. He married Helen Davis December 26, 1965; they celebrated 57 years of marriage in 2022.
Ed graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, in January 1967 and received his professional engineer license from the State of Ohio in February , 1972.He was a member of the LRCHS Marching Band, playing g clarinet, which enticed him to become a fan of New Orleans Jazz Clarinetists Pete Fountain and greatly enjoyed the works of Al Hirt and later in life, Jimmy Buffett.
After graduation, Ed and Helen moved to LaCross, WI where he trained to become a commercial sales engineer for Trane Company. Afterwards he practiced in St. Louis, MO where daughter Carey La Vaughn Wilson was born in March 1968.
He transferred to Grand Rapids, MI with Trane until 969.
In 1971, Ed was offered a design engineering position with the US Air Force in Dayton, OH. He was posted to Tyndall AFB in Panama City, FL in 1979 and retired in 1999. Ed noted that his work with the Air Force was a most interesting experience where he and his group of engineers traveled the US seeking way to economize energy for the Air Force. “Every gallon of fuel we can save means those planes will be flying that much longer,” he noted.
Wife Helen, with her Management Degree worked for the Navy until retiring in 1993.
Retired, he and Helen traveled aboard a Class A motorhome six months of the year for 20 years,
wintering in Panama City. After giving up the Class A, they moved to Orlando to be nearer to family. Survivors include his wife, Helen, daughter Kaley Shear (Andrew Shear), two grandchildren: Cody Light and Kaley Light Shear. Ed’s parents, Edward Eugene Wilson, Sr. and Katheryn Laybarger preceded him in death.
A casual celebration of life was held Saturday, Jan 28 at Discovery Church, 2504 S. Alfaya Trail, Orlando, FL. The family made a foray in a boat into the Atlantic on March18 to play Jimmy Buffet music and scatter Ed’s ashes into the ocean, as all know he would appreciate.
For those who requested, here is the link for donations to Samaritans Purse. Ed’s memorial page is now active and may be viewed by clicking on the following link: https://sampur.se/401OA20
The senior Wilson was a popular barber in west Little Rock, counting many classmates among his customers. His mother Katheryn was very proud of her banana plant she had Ed move it to the crawl space of their home (a difficult, tedious chore on hands-and-knees) in fall and re-plant in spring just outside their back door. Ed’s high school buddies made it a point to avoid that residence spring and fall. Rumor is that the plant, after all the years of TLC finally produced one banana. No report survives of its quality.
The mechanical engineer in Ed found it impossible to ignore those items in need of “fixing” things around the house, and was an avid water skier and boater. He and Helen loved traveling in their Class A motorhome, mostly in the US but took some trips to Europe and enjoyed many cruises to the Caribbean..
Ed loved life, people, laughter, telling stories and being with his family.
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