Biographies and Obituaries
In loving memory
Ernest Wilson
Washington Times-Herald
27 Aug 2009
Ernest Wilson
Ernest Wilson, 92, of Washington, went to be with the Lord at 12:33 a.m.
Thursday at Select Specialty Hospital in Evansville. He was born June
11, 1917, in Daviess County to George William and Catherine Rose (Colvin)
Wilson. He was a member of Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church. He was
retired from Washington City Power and Light as a lineman. He was a
U.S. Navy veteran of World War II where he served aboard the U.S.S.
Maryland during the attack on Pearl Harbor. After the attack he helped
pull the survivors of the U.S.S. Arizona to safety and helped lay to
rest the dead in honor in mass military graves. Also while still in
Hawaii, he had stayed in a hospital on Mare Island where he was personally
visited by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. He is survived by two daughters
and a son-in-law, Sue Mangin and Sandy and Mike Queen, all of Washington;
four grandchildren and their spouses, Renee and Allan Hentrup of Jasper,
Greg Queen of Brentwood, Calif., Jamie and Paul Petty of Palm Bay,
Fla., and Misty and Don Woods of Celestine; four great-grandchildren,
Alex Hentrup, Tyler Petty, Marie Queen and Ben Woods; two sisters,
Betty McDonald and Jessie Bullock, both of Indianapolis; two brothers,
Harold Wilson of Washington and George Wilson of Tennessee; and a special
friend, Marty Burnett of Vincennes. His wife, Mary "Frankie" (Patterson)
Wilson, whom he married March 19, 1943, died June 11, 2005. Seven sisters,
Anna Hedrick, Ester Dyson, Helen Parsons, Marcella Borden-Gieger, Rita
Conlon, Patty Wilson and Mary Dorothy Wilson; one brother, Cecil Wilson;
one son-in-law, James A. Mangin; and one grandson, Troy James Mangin,
are also deceased. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at
10 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, with Rev. Gordon
Mann as celebrant. Burial will be in Sugarland Memory Gardens, with
military graveside rites. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday, with a wake service at 4 p.m., at Ed Lee Mortuary. Memorial
donations may be made to the Pearl Harbor Survivor Project. Condolences
may be sent online at www.edleemortuary.com
(Aug. 27, 2009)
Contributed by: Judith Hedrick Braithwaite