Gary Meredith Wilson

gary wilson
Gary Meredith Wilson was born in Eugene, Oregon, on November 14, 1946, to Meredith and Mildred Wilson. He passed away at his home in Vienna, Virginia, on October 21, 2020, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Gary grew up and attended schools in Roseburg, Oregon, and then went on to attend Walla Walla College (now Walla Walla University) in College Place, Washington, where he graduated with a history major and political science minor. After graduation, Gary was awarded a Scottish Rite Fellowship by the Masonic Lodge in Roseburg, Oregon, to attend The George Washington University.

While attending graduate school he worked for Oregon Senator Mark O. Hatfield as a staff assistant.

He transferred to the Forest Service in 1974. His first assignment was in Roseburg at the Umpqua National Forest as assistant personnel officer. Two years later, Gary transferred to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Vancouver, Washington. It was during Gary's service as personnel officer that Mt. St. Helens erupted. Among many other duties, he was responsible for facilitating the transfer of all forest service employees in the immediate blast area to safe housing.

He then worked as a classification and pay specialist at Region 6 offices in Portland, Oregon. In 1984 Gary transferred to the Washington Office (WO) of the Forest Service. The winter of 1995-96 brought repeated major snow storms to the Washington, D.C. area. In January, the area was hit by yet another major snow storm, which paralyzed the area. Gary became the "essential employee" to make sure that the employees were paid in a timely and accurate manner, even those who were unable to get in to the office to file their time sheets – of course this was prior to the widespread use of electronic mail, etc. Gary had the responsibility to make sure that the employees were paid in a timely and accurate manner. In January of 1996 he was given the Chief's Award signed by Jack Ward Thomas, Chief of the Forest Service. Gary was recognized for being "The man who got the Forest Service folks paid."

Retirement came in 2007. Now Gary had the time to read and continue collecting a wide variety of books, especially leather bound editions.

The Forest Service was a huge part of Gary's life so it was natural for him to become a member of the Forest Service retirees, eventually serving as its treasurer.

About a year after officially retiring from the Forest Service, Gary's second career began with the arrival of his first grandchild, Ray Wilson. Gary became his caregiver. This presented new challenges for Gary. Ray and Papa traveled all over the neighborhoods, walking and playing. Then when little brother Yassin joined the family, Gary's caregiving skills got an additional challenge -- a new baby and a very active toddler. Once again he rose to the challenge and gave them excellent love and care. Another grandson joined the family shortly before Yassin's birth, Mark Wilbur. Gary's heart was full -- three precious, extremely bright grandsons. Gary had great fun on school trips (he even tolerated the loud voices of excited children on the bus rides!), field days, and awards ceremonies for his grandsons.

Gary served in various positions in the Vienna SDA Church where he was a member. His interest in Adventist Christian education was evident by his service as a board member and chairman of Vienna Adventist Academy for a number of years. He was currently serving on the Potomac Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Board of Education as well as the Columbia Union Board of Education.

Gary loved history, particularly civil war history. He had a deep concern for the preservation of historic sites. He loved to discuss history, politics and just about anything. His cheerful, happy attitude, and detailed stories will be greatly missed.

He is survived by his wife Beverly; daughter Kimberly Wilbur (Warren); son Christopher Wilson (Afifa); three grandsons Ray Wilson, Yassin Wilson, Mark Wilbur; a sister Linda Bethea (Dennis) and several cousins and nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to ColonialWilliamsburg.org; plant a tree; Vienna Adventist Academy Scholarship Fund, 340 Courthouse Rd SW, Vienna, VA 22180 or a charity of your choice.

Services will be private. Please sign the family guest book.

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Guestbook

  1. I worked directly with Gary at the Forest Service over 10 years. There was a group of us that would eat lunch together every day and I remember when personalized license plate started, Gary started writing them on the blackboard during lunch, we had hundreds of license plates on that board. Gary was a kind, gentle, funny, and wonderful person and he’s remembered with love and affection.

  2. I remember Gary and his wife Beverly.Always a friendly smile . Gary will be missed ,but not forgotten. He lived a good and fruitful life. Gods Blessings on the family.

    • Gary was a loving and caring person.He will be missed and loved by family and friends,until Jesus Christ comes, this is when we’ll see Gary again.

    • We walked many miles together on the W. O. & D. Trail discussing family, education, religion and history. I treasure his warm and friendly personality. See you in the great getting up morning.

  3. As I joined Vienna SDA church 16 years ago I remember Gary as one of the first person I met there. He was kind and caring and always loved to talk. When we had our first and second child Beverly was there in cradle role and Gary would also be in there helping with some of the activities with the children. As our children got older they started going to VAA where I joined the school board. Gary was always happy to help and explain the Adventist education system to me to help me be a better person. Although I never got a bread class we did often talk about many different things. Things I didn’t know or understand I knew I could ask him and he would have an answer. We will truly miss him. The Landgrover Family

  4. For a number of years, Gary invested countless hours in support of Vienna Adventist Academy and the Vienna SDA Church. His passion was clearly very deep for helping others. Our families became friends soon after they moved to Vienna as Becky had Kim and Chris as students. By the grace of Almighty God, we look forward to seeing Gary’s smiling face again when Heaven’s vast throngs of Angels accompany Jesus as he permanently restores his children to Him and each other!! Don & Becky Feltman

  5. My heart goes out to you, Bev and all of Gary’s family. He was a dear friend and colleague during my days at USDA and Forest Service. After retirement, we were both members of FS Retirees of DC, fondly known as FSX of DC. What I remember most about Gary is this: If he said he was going to do something, you could consider it done. Honest, thoughtful, considerate, smart, caring, and always agreeable are some of the adjectives I would use to describe Gary. He was a good person. Look forward to running into him again in the future in heaven.

  6. My memories of Gary are of his dedicated service in Cradle Roll. He was a reliable and faithful helper, he and Rosanne were consistent fixtures in the class, helping Beverly before she retired as the Cradle Roll teacher. He also continued to help when my daughter Emily took over as teacher. He knew the drill for setting up and closing up so was a significant value to her. Both the parents and kids were comfortable with him. There was a visitor came one week with a young boy who was very undisciplined and disruptive in class. I happened to be teaching class that week. We were both unsure what to do because the father wasn’t doing anything to make the child behave. Gary tried to get him to stay in his chair but the child refused and then started throwing chairs around. The father finally decided it was time to leave and apologized for his son. The whole situation was awkward but Gary kept his cool and never raised his voice, doing everything he could to calm the child. Cradle Roll just won’t be the same without a Wilson there. Gary certainly will be missed. Bev, Kim, Chris – you are in our thoughts and prayers, may God comfort you and keep you till he returns to take us home. Love, the Rosa Family (Beno, Davona, Nick, Zack, Emily + Shabana, Mason, Melina, and Benjamin)

  7. What happy memories we have of Gary! He lived an exemplary life, loving his family, his faith, and his career. We are thankful to have known him.


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