Obituary for Gerald Kenny Wilson
Gerald Kenny Wilson Passed away on 30 May 2021 after a valiant battle against metastatic melanoma. He was born 11 September 1941 to the late Marion Andrew and Emma Myrtle Chitwood Wilson of Co-Operative, Kentucky. He is preceded in death by his wife, Doris Ann Nevels Wilson, his parents, and siblings Denzil Allen Wilson, Mary Joyce Wilson Dobbs, Norse Eugene Wilson, and Barbara Lou Wilson, and grandson, David Keith Wilson. He is survived by his sons Michael David Wilson (Jennifer) of Smith Town, Kentucky, and Douglas Wayne Wilson (Maribel) of Randolph, New Jersey; two brothers, Thurston D. Wilson (Wanda) of Daleville, Indiana, and Doyle M. Wilson (Mona) of New Castle, Indiana; a sister-in-law, Irene Crisp Wilson, of Ocala, Florida; and his grandchildren Erin Elizabeth Faith, Kara Lou, Emma Kate, and Evan Michael.
After graduating in 1959 from McCreary County High School, he earned a BA in history and math from Cumberland College. He worked for the McCreary County Board of Education for 34 years, teaching at Co-Operative for a year, then instructing students in math at McCreary High, and finally serving as Director of Pupil Personnel at Central Office until 1997.
He had many simple joys in this life, like the sweet richness of Queen Anne cherries long after Christmas had passed; the swirls of colors in a Peace hybrid tea rose, unspoiled by Japanese beetles; the laughter of cousins taking turns cranking an ice cream churn on a blazing day in August; the achingly beautiful, lonely sound of a steel soaring above the strums of rhythm guitars; the thrill of watching the Kentucky Wildcats (but only on recorded playback, and only if they won); the comfort of a bowl of homemade vegetable soup and steaming slice of buttered corn bread on a bleak winter afternoon; the feeling of home rekindled by sharing hilarious stories over the phone with his brothers and sisters; and the cold refreshing taste of a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream, sometimes three times a day.
He only expressed two regrets: that he did not ask the workmen he watched dismantling K&T Engine #1 for a souvenir, and that he did not take more days off from work to go fishing with his sons.
He believed in the transformative power of Jesus Christ and in the importance of education. He appreciated music education, scientific discovery, and American history.
He did not truly grow old until July 5, 2020, when the cancer that would take his life manifested in a brain tumor. He fought bravely. He will live on in the hearts of all those who love him.
Funeral services were held Saturday, June 5, 2021 in the chapel of the Hickman-Strunk Funeral Home. Burial followed in the Methodist Cemetery.
Hickman-Strunk Funeral Home was honored to serve the family of Gerald Kenny Wilson.
After graduating in 1959 from McCreary County High School, he earned a BA in history and math from Cumberland College. He worked for the McCreary County Board of Education for 34 years, teaching at Co-Operative for a year, then instructing students in math at McCreary High, and finally serving as Director of Pupil Personnel at Central Office until 1997.
He had many simple joys in this life, like the sweet richness of Queen Anne cherries long after Christmas had passed; the swirls of colors in a Peace hybrid tea rose, unspoiled by Japanese beetles; the laughter of cousins taking turns cranking an ice cream churn on a blazing day in August; the achingly beautiful, lonely sound of a steel soaring above the strums of rhythm guitars; the thrill of watching the Kentucky Wildcats (but only on recorded playback, and only if they won); the comfort of a bowl of homemade vegetable soup and steaming slice of buttered corn bread on a bleak winter afternoon; the feeling of home rekindled by sharing hilarious stories over the phone with his brothers and sisters; and the cold refreshing taste of a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream, sometimes three times a day.
He only expressed two regrets: that he did not ask the workmen he watched dismantling K&T Engine #1 for a souvenir, and that he did not take more days off from work to go fishing with his sons.
He believed in the transformative power of Jesus Christ and in the importance of education. He appreciated music education, scientific discovery, and American history.
He did not truly grow old until July 5, 2020, when the cancer that would take his life manifested in a brain tumor. He fought bravely. He will live on in the hearts of all those who love him.
Funeral services were held Saturday, June 5, 2021 in the chapel of the Hickman-Strunk Funeral Home. Burial followed in the Methodist Cemetery.
Hickman-Strunk Funeral Home was honored to serve the family of Gerald Kenny Wilson.