William Albert Wilson of Marshall, North Carolina, passed away on May 31, 2011.
Mr. Wilson was born on November 15, 1923 in Madison County, North Carolina. He lived for many years in Huntsville, Alabama, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and returned to Madison County, North Carolina, in 1991.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Jeter Pritchard Wilson and Eugenia Anderson Ramsey Wilson, wife, Elwanda Ammons Wilson, daughters Karen Lorraine Wilson and Louise Jones, and twelve brothers and sisters. He is survived by his wife, Ruth Ballard Wilson, sons Duane Albert Wilson, Kevin Mitchell Wilson (Linda), and Bruce Ballard (Alice), grandchildren Audrey Meredith Wilson, Alexander Black Wilson, Morgan Alyse Wilson, Harrison Mitchell Wilson, Alicia Ballard, Bridget Fonseca (Roy), Carmen Jones, and Chadwick Jones, along with great-grandsons and numerous nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, and great-grandnieces and great-grandnephews.
Mr. Wilson graduated from Weaverville High School in 1940. He received an Associate of Arts degree from Mars Hill College in 1948 and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1950. While at the University of Tennessee, he served as the first president of the university’s chapter of the Pi Tau Sigma mechanical engineering honor society. He was a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Alabama and was a member of the American Society of Tool and Manufacturing Engineers, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and Tau Beta Pi.
After graduating from the University of Tennessee, Mr. Wilson worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority in Knoxville, Tennessee, until 1952, when he went to work for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. After NASA was formed in 1958, he worked at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville as Chief of the Methods Development Branch in the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory. During his tenure with NASA, he worked on the Mercury, Gemini, Jupiter, and Apollo rocket programs and the Space Shuttle program. Over his career, he received numerous awards and commendations, including Certificates of Achievement, Performance Award Certificates, Certificates of Merit, the Apollo Achievement Award, and Group Achievement Awards. He was awarded a NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1983 and a Marshall Space Flight Center Director’s Commendation in 1984 for his work on the Space Shuttle. One of Mr. Wilson’s inventions during his work with NASA was the subject of a patent application at the U.S. Patent Office. At the time of his retirement from NASA in 1985, he was the Director of the Materials and Processes Laboratory. After his retirement, he worked as an engineering consultant for several years in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Mr. Wilson served three years in the Army Air Force during World War II, during which time he saw action in Italy, Normandy and other parts of France, Germany, and the Balkans. He was awarded the Europe-Africa-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 10 Bronze Stars, a Distinguished Unit Service Badge, and a Good Conduct Medal. Mr. Wilson was honorably discharged in 1945 as a sergeant with the 829th Heavy Bombardment Squadron.
Mr. Wilson was a founding member of the Huntsville Bible Church in Huntsville. After returning to North Carolina following his retirement from NASA, he attended the Beech Glen Baptist Church. He was a member of The Gideons International for over 50 years. During that time, he held every statewide office of the Alabama Gideons. During his years as a Gideon, Mr. Wilson spoke in hundreds of churches in Alabama and across the country. In 1984, he traveled to Schwerin, Germany, as a guest of the German Gideons, to present his testimony at their national convention.
Funeral services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, June 3, at Blue Ridge Funeral Home in Mars Hill. Visitation will be from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, at the funeral home. The funeral service will be conducted by Rev. Stanley Peek and Rev. Kevin Wilson.

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