Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Robert Herald Wilson, 96, of Virginia Beach, passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 3, 2016. He was born on April 29, 1919, in Arkansas City, Kan.
While in high school, he was selected to the Kansas All State basketball team. In 1941, he graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Commerce. Upon graduation, he entered the U.S. Naval Supply Corps in 1941 and received his training at the Harvard Business School.
While serving his country, his Supply Corps duty stations included The Navy Pier in Chicago, the USS Mizar supply ship in the South Pacific during World War II, the Oakland supply Depot in California, The Bureau of Supplies & Accounts in Washington, D.C., Com 14 and Navy Exchange in Hawaii, The David Taylor Model Basin in Maryland, the USS Iowa Battleship, Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth and the Navy Exchange in Norfolk, from which he retired in 1964. During his military career he earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School. After retiring from the U.S. Navy, he became the vice president of Columbia Yachts and also owned Simplified Tax Service.
He was a devoted member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Baylake Pines Civic League, Virginia Beach Combers Kiwanis Club, Retired Military Officers Association, Broad Bay Sailing Association, Tarpon Bay Yacht Club and Saints & Sinners Yacht Club. He loved traveling, sailing, golfing and playing tennis.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Laurel White Wilson; daughter, Beverly Wilson Rooker, and her husband, Boyd; sons, Robert Alan Wilson, Gary Randal Wilson, and his wife, Helen, and Gary Lawless Wilson; seven grandchildren, Tammy Thomas, Stephanie Rekeda, Eric Rooker, Ashley Wilson, Benjamin Wilson, Laura Gallimore and Paul Wilson; nine great grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A celebration of Captain Wilson’s life is pending on Sunday, April 10, at Atlantic Shores Retirement Community in Virginia Beach. A private burial will be held in Tidewater Veterans Memorial Garden at Rosewood Memorial Park.
The family requests that memorial donations be made to National Audubon Society or Navy Relief Society.
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