Richard C "Dick" Wilson

Richard C. (“Dick”) Wilson passed away peacefully on Monday, February 20, 2023. Born to James E. Wilson and Florence M. Wilson in Portsmouth, Virginia on December 7, 1941 (a date that World War II historians know as “A Date That Will Live In Infamy”), he was a 1960 graduate of Ashtabula (Ohio) High School and held an undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a brother of the Theta Xi fraternity. After graduating college, he moved to Rochester, NY, taking a job at Xerox Corporation, where he met his beloved wife of 51 years, Lorraine (Button) Wilson. He spent the next thirty years working in various capacities for Xerox, first in data processing and later as a corporate auditor, and earned a graduate degree from the University of Rochester. Retiring from Xerox in 1999, Dick and Lori moved to Florida where he began a second career as an educator, teaching history and math to students at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg, FL. His skill as an educator and devotion to his students was apparent from the large uptick in passage rates of Advanced Placement exams among those who took his classes. Upon his second retirement, his appreciative Northeast High students christened him a “Viking For Life”. Influenced by the loss of his uncle Neil Wilson on the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor just hours after his birth, and inspired by the military service of several other relatives, Dick was a voracious student of WWII history and Civil War history. During conversations of any length, his many friends were likely to learn various bits of Civil War or WWII trivia. He was also an avid amateur genealogist and a lifelong sports fan, living the “maybe next year” mantra that is all too familiar to fans of the Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns. In his later years, however, he enjoyed some redemption in following the championship seasons of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dick was preceded in death by his parents (James E. Wilson and Florence M. Wilson), as well as three siblings (Renee E. Semerod, Neil R. Wilson and Sharon A. Sheetz), one niece (Cindy Semerod), one nephew (Neil “Willie” Wilson), and one grandnephew (Kelly Chutz). He is survived by his wife (Lorraine G. Wilson), a son (Andrew Wilson), two nieces (Cathy Chutz and Carly Martin), a grandnephew (Christopher Chutz), and a grandniece (Emma Martin). Interment will be at Dicksonburg Cemetery, Conneautville, PA alongside numerous relatives. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made toward upkeep of the USS Arizona Memorial c/o the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Information regarding donations may be found at https://www.nps.gov/perl/getinvolved/donate.htm. Arrangements entrusted to Beyers Funeral Home, Lady Lake, FL. Online condolences may be made at www.beyersfuneralhome.com.

Richard C "Dick" Wilson

December 7, 1941 - February 20, 2023