Kenneth Edgar Wilson, Jr.
Kenneth Edgar Wilson, Jr., a retired Navy Rear Admiral, died at age 90 on July 7, 2016 at his Kendal Crosslands retirement community in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Jane Hance Wilson, of Taney Place, Calvert County, Maryland, and Kenneth Edgar Wilson, of Baltimore, Maryland. Ken was born in Philadelphia in 1926, was raised in nearby Narberth, and attended Lower Merion High School in Ardmore. In 1944, he entered the U. S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1947 with the Class of 1948. He also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from which he received a master’s degree in Naval Construction and Engineering in 1952. It was during his time at MIT that he met Shirley Smith of Rutland,Vermont, and they were married in 1951. Ken and Shirley went on to have four children, and they moved several times throughout his career, providing many adventures for the family.
Ken’s naval career spanned 35 years and he had a particular passion for submarine and ship building. He had various sea assignments on cruisers and submarines, including deployment in the Holy Loch, Scotland. Later in his naval career, he served ashore as Commander of the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, and the Vice Commander of Naval Ships and Naval Sea Systems Commands at Navy headquarters in Washington, D.C. He retired from the Navy in 1978, at which time he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. He later served in executive positions in Exxon Enterprises and International Companies and as an independent management consultant of the public utilities.
Ken and Shirley loved to travel. In their earlier years, planned trips with the children were often based around routes that would provide the most opportunities to stop and visit battlegrounds, naval bases, and anywhere he could pose the children for pictures with cannons. In 1969, Ken and Shirley bought an old home in the village of Belmont, Vt. It was quite a project, but anyone who knew Ken knew he was always up for projects and thrived when busy. He could often be found tinkering in his workshop or sprucing up the outside of the house. He also had a passion for woodworking, making each of his children cherry heirloom cradles for their babies. He and Shirley also spent much of the leisure time in earlier years antiquing to furnish their homes, and items they collected throughout their lives together now grace the homes of their children and grandchildren. Ken was an avid golfer and at home, he always took time to play croquet in the yard, and as the reigning champion, he was forced by his family to play with a special ball for him that was cut in half. The family spent many happy summers in Belmont and plans to continue that tradition with future generations of Wilsons to come.
Upon Ken’s retirement, he and Shirley moved to Crosslands where they remained very active in the community. They enjoyed trips to various places around the world, but most beloved to them was Scotland and their home in Vermont. Shirley passed away in 2012; they were married for 61 wonderful years.
Survivors include his four children, Barbara (Lloyd) Conley of Solomons, Md., Nancy Drake of Exton, Pa., Kenneth Wilson III (Mimi) of Zelienople, Pa., and Sarah (Daniel) McKay of Drexel Hill, Pa.; eleven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. In addition to his wife Shirley, he was predeceased by his older sister, Sue Wilson Tabor, of St. Augustine, Fl.
You are invited to Ken’s Funeral service at 11AM Monday July 18, 2016 at The Episcopal Church of the Advent, 401 N. Union St. Kennett Square, PA 19348. Burial with full military honors will be held at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis MD. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Episcopal Church of the Advent, 201 Crestline Drive, Kennett Square, PA 19348 or to the Crosslands Reserve Fund, PO Box 100, Kennett Square, PA 19348 or at www.kcc.kendal.org with the “donate now” icon. To view his online tribute and to share a memory with his family, please visit www.griecocares.com
Special Remembrance from Daughter Sarah McKay:
Most kids do not give a lot of thought to the impact of their father’s profession on their upbringing, but when your Dad is a naval officer, believe me, there is carry over when he gets home from work. The way he lived his life turned into everyday lessons for the four of us children.
Never in my life have I met someone who was more organized than our Dad. Any action, personal or historical fact, purchase, repair, you name it, was documented in full detail, assigned to it’s own binder, copied four times and sent to each of us four children. This was also the case for any newspaper article which may in any way pertain to our lives. Needless to say, the manufacturers of large manilla envelopes and the US postal Service loved our Dad. Another example of his organization was his workshops at both his primary residences and our Vt. home. Throughout his life, he collected baby food jars of different sizes and in each of those jars went accordingly sized screws, nails, nuts, you name it. Those jars were then accordingly organized on pre-determined shelves next to a workbench that had a specifically sized hangers for every tool. In case you were not in his workshop, you could always access his hand written diagrams that clearly showed every tool he owned and its proper spot. I was not particularly good at putting things back when I borrowed them, and if he walked into his shop and the designated eight inch Phillips head screwdriver hook was empty, he usually knew who the culprit was.
Our father taught us to respect authority. I think it is fair to say that in 2016 we live in a time where we discuss some decisions with our children and dare I say, we even at times question authority. With our Dad, there was none of that. If he told us to do something, never did we whine, “but Dad…” -it never even entered our minds. Nor did we ever think of asking him as young children or teenagers to explain his rationale for a particular request or decision. He commanded respect in his job and the same was true at home. He also instilled in us a respect of our country. To this day, I get upset when I see people goofing off or not putting their hand on their heart during the pledge of allegiance at baseball games and such. Although my Dad and I did not agree on politics, he taught me to respect the President and office of the presidency, even if it was not the candidate he or I chose. One of my fondest memories, (and I must disclose, I am the democrat in this story), my Dad gave me a framed and wrapped picture of Bob Dole during his run for President for my birthday. I thought it was hysterical. I followed up on his birthday a month later with a framed and wrapped picture of me with Bill Clinton. He laughed so hard when he opened it! Neither of us ever spoke negatively about the others’ opposite views. It was sort an unspoken respect for a difference of opinion.
It will probably not surprise anyone to hear that from an early age, we were all taught to be punctual. If Dad wanted to leave the house at an arbitrary 7:15am for a Sunday drive to go to visit battle fields, we were in that car by 7:15am. I remind my husband and children all of the time who they need to thank when I have them in the car at 5am sharp to leave for trips. We were also all taught from an early age how to read a paper map. I know for a fact that I knew how to read a map before I actually knew how to read. We knew how to chart the mileage and determine when we would arrive. Being late, not an option! Our Dad would also mail each of us maps for any place we may be planning to visit-he wanted to make sure we could plan ahead as well. I think our Dad never got over the fact that Google maps have taken the place of paper maps, it is sad indeed.
Lastly, our father taught us lessons in frugality and responsibility. In Dad’s navy years, they were very tight. It was used cars, hand made clothes, learning piano at home, not many dinners out. He and our mom also had lessons with money for us kids. At times in our lives, we had a fining system where, for instance, we would have to pay a quarter if we left a towel on the floor. But, he was also liberal with his quarters paying us on long car rides if we could recite all of the presidents, state capitals, etc. Most memorable to me and most appreciated by my siblings were the offers to pay me a quarter if I would stop talking for just five minutes on long car rides-I never got that quarter. From our earliest memories, our Dad also instilled the importance of saving. There were times when on a navy salary, they had all four children in either college or private schools and we asked them how they did it, and they would say, “we just did, you do what you have to do”. It was not uncommon from the time we graduated from college for our dad to ask us, “are you saving for your kids’ college, are you putting money away for retirement?” It was also not unusual for him to send all of us articles on ways to save money or consumer reports on something we may be purchasing in the future, We were well educated on the topic of saving and I think all four of us have aspired to do things as well as our parents did.
Dad was rigid, he was stubborn, and he was inpatient, but he was also very loving, and without question, the most generous man all of us children will ever know. If we had a problem, he wanted to fix it and we always knew he and our Mom were there for us for anything we needed. When our Mom had her stroke in 2009, it was devastating to all of us, but no one more than our Dad. He sat by her side holding her hand every single day for three years before her death in 2012. We saw a different side to our father during those three years. He was not necessarily strong and stoic any more, he was tender, vulnerable and for those of you who have seen the Notebook, much like the older Noah (James Gardner) character by the side of the love of his life during her difficult years. The time since our mother’s stroke has been difficult, but in a way it has been a gift for the four of us. It has allowed us to see a very different side of our father, and as a result have a different, closer relationship with him. I know our Mom has been looking down smiling and I also know she was waiting for him with open arms. We are glad they are together again.
