James F. Wilson was born Thursday, June 11, 1925 in Wichita, Kansas .
he died Friday, May 22, 2015. his recorded age was 89.
he was a veteran of the Army and served in World War II.
James F. Wilson, 89, passed away peacefully at home in Powell on Friday, May 22, surrounded by his family. Even though he suffered from Alzheimer’s, his death was from Acute Leukemia which was diagnosed in April. Jim was born June 11, 1925, in Wichita, Kansas, to Aubrey Victor and Mabel Clare (Hunt) Wilson.
He attended Wichita East High School and after serving in WWII with the 349th Airborne Troop Carrier Group in North Africa and Europe, he returned to Wichita. Having no place to live, he took a job washing cars at the Byrd-Snodgrass Funeral Home and they let him sleep in the basement. He eventually attended the Kansas City College of Mortuary Science and served his apprenticeship at Byrd-Snodgrass. He was later promoted to Funeral Director there.
Upon leaving the funeral business, he became a pharmaceutical salesman and, eventually, national sales manager for two pharmaceutical companies. He also sold medical electronics for a brief time before getting into the wholesale jewelry business from which he retired.
Known for his sense of humor (which he inherited from his mother), Jim could rattle off one joke after another as well as one liners. Although he had forgotten all the jokes, the one liners kept coming until the end.