Johnnie Marlin Wilson, Sr., 93, formerly of Fitzgerald, died Wednesday, March 19, 2014, at his residence in Lakeland, Florida.
Funeral services will be held 2 PM, Sunday, March 23, 2014, at The Paulk Funeral Home Chapel in Fitzgerald with the Rev. Dr. Mike Ruffin officiating. Interment will be private. The family will receive friends from 7-9 Saturday evening at the funeral home in Fitzgerald.
Mr. Wilson was born June 26, 1920, in Pearson, to the late Johnnie W. and Alene Vining Wilson. He grew up in Pearson and graduated from Pearson High School in 1937. In July of 1940, he entered the United States Army and served his country honorably during World War II. Mr. Wilson served on Normandy and was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a resident of Florida for over 30 years. He was a former manager of Dixie Peanut Company and Union Cotton Oil Company, served as a Life of Georgia Insurance Company representative, operated a plant nursery and was a farmer. He was a member of The Family Worship Center in Lakeland, Florida.
He is survived by his wife: Carolyn Murray Wilson of Lakeland, Florida; his children: Johnnie M. Wilson, Jr. & Dorene of Fitzgerald and Dianne & Wilkie Glenn, all of Fitzgerald, John Bailey, Jr. & Susie, Karen & Hunter Reid, Chris Bailey, and Joann Bailey, all of Lakeland, Florida; 13 grandchildren; 9 great-grandchildren; 2 great-great-grandchildren; and two brothers: Bill & Jeannette Wilson of Orange, Texas and Donald & Virginia Wilson of Andover, Massachusetts. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother: Edwin Wilson.