Wilson, Gerald A. -- 1931 - 1999

LEFERINK, WILSON, CREGER, FORD, EIKEN, MATHISON, NESTEBY, PETERSON, HUNT, BRONNER

Posted By: IA GenWeb Volunteer
Date: 6/3/2010 at 17:37:48

Decorah Public Opinion newspaper, Tuesday, May 25, 1999.

Gerald Wilson, 68, of Mabel, Minn., died Wednesday, May 19, 1999, at the Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital in Decorah.

Funeral services were held Saturday, May 22, at 2 p.m., at Burr Oak Lutheran Church in Burr Oak, with the Rev. Hans Floan officiating. Burial was at the Burr Oak Cemetery with military rites by the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. The Mengis Funeral Home in Mabel, Minn., handled arrangements.

Gerald was born April 12, 1931, in Cresco, the son of Gilbert and Eleanore (Leferink) Wilson. He attended Cresco area schools and graduated from the Cresco High School.

He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean Conflict. After returning from Korea, he began farming in the Cresco area.

In 1952, he married Evelyn Creger. In 1964 the couple moved to the Mabel, Minn., area, where they continued farming. Evelyn died in 1986. In 1987, Gerald married Betty Ford. They have remained on the farm.

Gerald was a member of the Burr Oak Lutheran Church in Burr Oak, the American Legion for 37 years, and a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Survivors include his wife, Betty of Mabel, Minn.; three sons, Larry and Myrna Wilson of Mabel, Minn., Michael and Connie Wilson of Cresco, and Randy and Pam Wilson of St. Cloud, Minn.; two daughters, Diane and Steve Eiken, and Connie and Murrell Mathison, both of Mabel, Minn.; two step-daughters, Michelle and Steve Nesteby of Decorah, and Lyra and Tedd Peterson of St. Paul, Minn.; his mother, Eleanore Wilson of Cresco; two sisters, Maureen Hunt of Cedar Rapids, and Margaret Bronner of Cresco; and two brothers, Gordon Wilson of Cedar Rapids and Norbert Wilson of California.

Gerald Wilson was preceded in death by his father; his first wife, Evelyn; and a brother, Donald.

Transcribed by an IA GenWeb Volunteer from obituaries found in the Howard-Winneshiek Genealogy Society Library, Cresco, Iowa.