The Unionville area has lost another longtime resident: early Oct. 27 Barbara Ann Miller Wilson of Doe Run died at age 81.
A native of Marlborough Village, she graduated in 1949 from Unionville Consolidated School, where she was a cheerleader and 1948 Harvest Queen. She received her degree in elementary education from Maryville College in Tennessee and taught at New Garden Elementary School in the Kennett school district for 35 years. She was the wife of the late Sam Wilson, manager of the King Ranch in West Marlborough, and as her obituary said, "their 49 years together on the ranch were filled with adventures day and night."
I knew my neighbor Mrs. Wilson only later in her life but was always struck by what a gracious and lovely woman she was. At the service at Westminster Presbyterian Church, in addition to beautiful flowers from neighbors and friends, there were lots of photos on display of her with her family, here and on vacation, in her wedding gown or in a swimsuit, and she had a wonderful smile in all of them. Sympathy to her son Samuel S. Wilson, Jr., daughter, Mary Jean, son-in-law Mark Stenz, and granddaughter, Taylor.
Hood's restaurant in Unionville, where Mrs. Wilson was a regular customer and family friend, was closed on Thursday so the staff could attend her funeral. In the past few weeks, when she was ill, I'd often see Sam lunching there on his own. So many people would come up to him and ask, "How's your Mom?" that his lunch break was probably double its normal duration.
Mrs. Wilson was my first grade teacher at kennett, 1958-9. We were in the upper, flat wing near the upper baseball field. Grades 1-3 were in that "u" wing, and 4-6 were in what is now the main high school building. I remember going on a field trip in that frist grade class to Eachus Dairy there in Doe Run, I'm sure it was arranged by Mrs. Wilson.
ReplyDeleteThe elementary-school dairy visit lives in my memory, too, Steve (though we went to the Wawa dairy near Media)! Thanks for writing.
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