Stanley P. Wilson

Stanley P. Wilson died on May 11, 2011 after an extended illness. He was born September 1, 1922 in Hamlin, Texas to Milton Y. and Ethel Patterson Wilson. After growing up in Hamlin, he entered the University of North Texas, from which he graduated in 1943 and then entered the U.S. Navy. Following his Midshipman and Supply Corps training at Notre Dame and Harvard Universities, he was sent to Seattle and assigned to the U.S.S. Rawlins, an attack transport ship which carried troops into invasions againt the Japanese. While stationed in Seattle, he was married to Claudie Park in 1944. When his ship went to sea, she returned to Texas to complete her last year of college. Following the end of World War II, he entered law school at the University of Texas. After graduation in 1948, he joined the law firm of McMahon, Springer and Smart in Abilene. Through the years he developed an extensive practice in civil law, both in the office and in the courtroom. In addition to being a member of the local, State and National Bar Associations, he was a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation as well as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel. In 1981 he took a position in Dallas as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Central and Southwest Corporation, a utility holding company. After retirement in 1988, the Wilsons returned to Abilene where they had kept their home, and Stanley became Of Counsel to the McMahon Law Firm. One of his major clients through the years was the H.B. Zachry Company of San Antonio, and he resumed his work for them as well as his other clients. Mr. Zachry once said, "To watch Stanley through his preparation, organization and execution of a lawsuit is like watching the production of a grand opera." A member of St. Paul United Methodist Church, he taught adult Sunday School classes through the years. He was also very active in the civic life of Abilene, having served on the Abilene School Board, as President of the Abilene Bar Association, Chairman of the Board of the Hendrick Medical Foundation, and as a director of the United Way, Citizens for Better Government, the Y.M.C.A., the Abilene Boys Club, the Community Foundation of Abilene, the Sears Methodist Foundation, the Shelton Foundation, First National Bank of Abilene and First Financial Bankshares. Mr. Wilson is survived by his wife of 66 years, the former Claudie Park, his sons Stanley Wilson, Jr., of Austin, Russell P. Wilson of Abilene, and his daughter Marianne Wilson of Fort Worth, grand-children Aaron Clawson of Wichita, KS and Christa Deamer of Austin, TX, great grandson Aaron Deamer of Austin, Tx, nephew Randel Wilson of Fort Worth, niece Patty Wilson Burkemper of Minneapolis, a brother-in-law, Dr. Charles Onstead of Houston, Tx, and several great-nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brothers Jack Wilson and Milton Y. Wilson, Jr. Visitation will be from 5:00 - 7:00 PM on Thursday, May 12, in the Fellowship Hall of St. Paul United Methodist Church, 525 Beech Street in Abilene. A memorial service will be held at St. Paul United Methodist Church at 2:00 PM on Saturday, May14th, directed by The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road in Abilene. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Paul United Methodist Church, the Community Foundation of Abilene, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, or an organization of the donor's choice.