WILSON, Johnnie

WILSON, ORVILLE, LEONARD, POWELL, WILT, SAWYER, MCALKICH, ROBERSON, HELMS, STOGDILL, FRIEND

Posted By: Roseanna Zehner (email)
Date: 11/7/2004 at 06:33:28

Johnnie Victor Wilson, 80, of Sidney, formerly of Glenwood, died Oct. 12, 2004, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Neb. Funeral services were held Oct. 16 at the Hertz Funeral Home in Glenwood. Dr. Terry Orville officiated the services. Interment was at the Glenwood Cemetery.

Mr. Wilson was the son of Martin Leander and Mabel (Leonard) Wilson, born Aug. 21, 1924, in Trail, Okla. Following the great dust bowl, his family moved by covered wagon to Iowa and settled near Glenwood. Mr. Wilson grew up in Glenwood and graduated from the Glenwood High School in 1942. Following school, he joined the U.S. Army, serving as a Mortar Gunner during WW11 and later in Japan on occupation duty. Following the war, Mr. Wilson returned to Council Bluffs, where his father taught him to shoe horses. He traveled to Kentucky as a farrier. It was here he met Eva Ruth Powell. The couple eventually settled in Columbus, Ohio, where they were married. They had been married 22 years when Mrs. Wilson died in 1976. Mr. Wilson continued to live in Columbus, working with horses and training dogs for National Field Trials. His work earned him to national recognition, as he was the only farrier to be inducted into the Harness Horse Racing Hall of Fame in Goshen, N.Y. Upon his retirement, Mr. Wilson’s special friend and apprentice, Eric Wilt, took over his blacksmith business. Mr. Wilson returned to southwest Iowa in 1997 and purchased a home in Sidney. His heart, however, remained in Glenwood, where he spent many of his days. He was a member of the First Christian Church in Glenwood, enjoyed visits with the guys during coffee and spending time with his good friend, Barb Sawyer.

Mr. Wilson was preceded in death by his parents, wife and brothers Cliff Wilson, Claud Wilson and Jake Wilson. He is survived by daughter Jacke McAlkich and husband Frank of Mt. Sterling, Ohio; brothers Ed Wilson of Watkins, Colo., and Fred Wilson and wife Wanda of Ricketts; sisters Elizabeth Roberson of Red Oak, Pauline Helms of Galesburg, Ill., and Anita Stogdill of Council Bluffs; granddaughter Tiffani Friend and husband Scot and their son Cody of Powell, Ohio; grandson Jason McAlkich of Mt. Sterling; special friend Barbara Sawyer of Glenwood; nieces and nephews; and other relatives and friends.

Hertz Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.