G I Wilson

G.I. Wilson passed away February 16, 2025 in Keizer, Oregon. He was born on a farm in the Texas Panhandle, April 25, 1932. It was during the Dust Bowl. At age six, the family moved to Glover, Oklahoma, in McCurtain County.

He graduated from the 8th grade in a three-room schoolhouse. He graduated from Broken Bow High School. He was the second student from Glover Elementary to graduate from high school.

He attended Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) until drafted for the Korean War effort. After two years in the Army spent in Germany, he joined his parents in Sweet Home, Oregon.

He received a B.A. degree in Education from Oregon College of Education (now WOU). He earned a M.A., specializing in teaching the deaf, a career he pursued for the next 30 years. He taught at the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind. He received a fellowship at the University of California earning a graduate degree. He returned to the Oregon School for the Deaf. Over the next 25 years he served as supervising teacher, assistant director, and his last five years as director.

After early retirement, he followed a long-time dream, graduating from The North American School for Outdoor Writing and became a freelance outdoor writer to write about his passion for the outdoors. He spent the next 25 years writing for national, regional and state magazines and websites. He was a member of the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association. He won numerous awards in their Excellence In Craft competition. He self-published a collection of his humorous experiences in Bear Crushes Dad.

An avid angler, he fished from Mexico to Alaska, Canada and Hawaii.

He wrote many articles based on fishing, hunting deer, elk and birds.

He was preceded in death by his son, Gary Wilson; parents, Pearl and Irving Wilson; sister, Georgeanna Denver; and granddaughter, Samantha Zook.

He is survived by wife Jo Wilson, Keizer; daughters Susan Zook (Mike), Boardman, Oregon and Sandra White, Salem, Oregon; three grandsons, and six great grand children.

A Memorial Service will be held March 15, 2025, 1:00 p.m. at Center 50+, 2615 Portland Road NE, Salem, Oregon.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Tunnel to Towers Foundation or your favorite charity.