John "Jack" Wilson

John Frederick “Jack” Wilson, 96, formerly of Grand Island died Saturday, May 14, 2022, at Franciscan Healthcare in West Point, NE. Memorial service will be 10:30 AM Thursday, May 26, 2022, at Trinity United Methodist Church with Rev. Kelly Karges officiating. Visitation will be 1 hour prior to the service. Private family burial will be at the Central City Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the family for later designation. Online condolences may be directed to www.apfelfuneralhome.com.

Jack was born August 24, 1925, at Seward, NE, to Leslie A. and Helen M. (Reiher) Wilson. The family lived in Seward and Beaver Crossing until 1929 when they moved to Red Cloud, NE. Jack attended rural schools and graduated from Red Cloud High School in 1943. He farmed with his father until entering the service in 1945, during which time he served in the Army of Occupation in Japan. Following his honorable discharge in 1946, he attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Agriculture, graduating in 1951. He was a member of FarmHouse Fraternity, several professional honoraries, and the Innocents Society.

On August 26, 1950, he was united in marriage to Marilyn Phyllis Kuhlman at Warren Methodist Church in Lincoln, NE. In June 1951, Jack and Marilyn moved to a farm near Red Cloud and in 1954 relocated to an irrigated farm near Clarks, NE, where they resided for 56 years. They became parents of John Allan and James Bruce. Both boys followed their grandfather Wilson’s professional footsteps as Extension educators.

Following his years of farming, Jack worked several years as a statistician with USDA in several central Nebraska counties. In retirement, volunteer work and maintaining an attractive farmstead were priorities. While in Webster and Merrick counties he took an active part in local affairs, serving many years on the boards of the United Methodist Church, Clarks Cooperative Elevator, Merrick County Extension, Merrick County Agricultural Society, Merrick County Supervisor as well as the statewide Nebraska Association of County Officials and Nebraska Association of Fair Managers boards.

He was a 4-H leader for over 25 years and a 70-year member of the Masonic Lodge and the Order of Eastern Star. He enjoyed membership in the Hastings consistory of Scottish Rite, Tehama Shrine, and Clarks Lions Club. He was especially proud of his membership in the American Legion for over 76 years.

Jack and Marilyn enjoyed travel, both for pleasure and service, the latter by building casitas (small homes) in Nuevo Progresso, Mexico, for extremely impoverished families.

After moving to Regency Apartments in Grand Island in 2010, he found new areas of volunteer work with the Nebraska State Fair and events at the Heartland Events Center, especially enjoying the Shrine Circus, while continuing to work at the Stuhr Museum Foundation from 1993 until last December when he moved to Oakland Heights Assisted Living and Nursing Home, in Oakland, NE.

He was proceeded in death by his parents, Leslie and Helen Wilson, and wife, Marilyn, in 2018.

He is survived by sons: John (Patty) of Craig, NE, and Jim (Gerry) of Post Falls, ID; four step-grandchildren, 10 step-great-grandchildren, and six step-great-great-grandchildren.