William Lee “Willie” Wilson was born September 25, 1949, on a farm outside Charleston, Missouri. His parents, Beatrice Wilson and William Brown, gave Willie four brothers and three sisters. Tom and James “Spoon” Wilson are his only living siblings.
After graduating from high school in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1968, Willie enlisted in the Air Force the following December. He served as a construction equipment operator in Vietnam and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal for his time spent there during that war.
Willie received a military honorable discharge on February 26, 1971, after a fall from a building foundation several stories high. That fall resulted in a broken neck, and Willie never walked again.
Paralyzed at age twenty-one, Willie spent nearly fifty-four years lying on his back because his legs wouldn’t bend. He was cared for by family for a short time but lived most of his remaining years in various veteran and civil care facilities. The last twenty-five years of his life were spent in Onaga, Kansas, in the Onaga Health and Rehab Center.
A man of few needs, Willie gave away nearly everything he purchased. He was constantly buying candy and other small items for the residents and staff at the care home. He also gave candy to the nurses at the hospital.
A memorial prayer service will be held at Onaga Health and Rehabilitation Center in Onaga on Thursday, May 29, at 10:00 a.m. Military funeral honors will follow at 11:00 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Cemetery at Coal Creek, north of Onaga. Memorials are suggested to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and may be sent in care of Chapel Oaks Funeral Home, PO Box 312, Onaga, KS 66521.
