| Notes |
- Wayne was born in Momence, IL, the third child and second son of Delia O'Connell and John Wilson, Jr. He went to one-room country schools and attended Momence High School.
He served in WWII in the Army Air Corp and was stationed at Chenute Field for a time. He was then sent to the Aleutian Islands.
Wayne was always working with his hands...he loved making things. In the service when plastic was first on the market, he made his niece, Sonja, a beautiful clear plastic heart that had a red interior, looking much like tiny veins. He also made himself a false tooth when he had a tooth that needed a crown instead of going to have it fixed by a dentist!
After he was discharged from the service, he returned to Grant Park, married and started an electrical business with his younger brother, Gaylord. They were known for miles around as the Wilson Bros. Electrical Contractors.
His love for making things extended to the making of wonderful, custom guns. These were muzzle-loaders made to exact replicas of days past. Every part of the gun, down to the screws were made by hand. His most prized possession was a muzzle-loader he had made and later willed it to his favorite niece, Sonja Mortensen, daughter of his sister, Ruby. Sonja has since given it to her only son, Raymond Black, to keep it in the family.
Wayne was the quiet one, unlike his siblings. He was serious, thoughtful and also very caring.
He had for sometime, been very ill. The doctor in Grant Park was treating him for a liver ailment. The area under his right lung was swollen. When his nephew, Dr. John Mortensen came to visit him and checked him over, he discovered the real problem was a severe heart condition and he was in heart failure. Wayne was taken immediately to the VA hospital where a pacemaker was implanted just under the skin. His nephew had saved his life for many more years. He regained his energy and strength after years of suffering from this unknown heart condition.
The misdiagnosis would not be the last in this family. The same doctor in Grant Park also misdiagnosed his brother, Jack, a few years later that resulted in his untimely death.
His Social Security number is 354-28-7240 issued in IL.
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1908 - 1985 (76 years)
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