Obituary of Louis Floyd Wilson
Louis F. Wilson passed away on March 21, 2019 at age 85.
Louis “You Can Call Me Lou” Wilson lived a long, rather active life filled with laughter and strife as so many lives are. Born during the Great Depression, a life of work started early with a paper route at 3 years old alongside his mother. These early trials would form much of his outlook on child rearing as he supported his wife and family in later years. He expected devotion to education while scarcely allowing “his girls” to get a part time job prior to graduating high school. Though he worked hard as a child, it did not stop him from a bit of fun and a whole lot of mischief. He would spend weekends in the summer with his grandfather on the farm alongside his cousin, working and getting into trouble. Many will surely remember his voice “like coal going through a chute,” but were you aware he got that voice at 4 or 5 while riding his bicycle down the sidewalk? He knew how to go, but not how to stop. Instead, a building stopped him and a turned steering column lodged a handlebar into his windpipe. Voila, coal was born.
In high school his favorite book was “A Tale of Two Cities.” It was “the only one he read” while attending Aquinas High School. Back then it was an all boys school and their football team played against college prep schools. It would later prove helpful after his principal called him into his office to inform him he would not be graduating because he did not pass his English final. “The whole thing was about A Tale of Two Cities, it’s absolutely not possible” he said and he was right, he passed.
Post high school he began a job at Kodak while trying to help his mother and baby sister and it became evident he lacked discipline. Therefore he enlisted in the Army as the Korean Conflict was brewing. In basic training he encountered a drill sergeant that changed the trajectory of his entire life. He instilled deep-seated beliefs in the need for a moral compass and the idea that you can do anything you set your mind to. It may also be where a small part of his stubbornness and pride (especially in later years) stemmed from. Ultimately it is what moved him along in his life thereafter. In the Army he was assigned a mechanic. With the Korean War just ending, he would drive generals around the country and fix vehicles. All this driving provided him the skills to help him in later part-time gigs as a valet, parking lot attendant and ambulance driver. After leaving the Army, he returned to Kodak for over 30 years. After retiring from Kodak he returned to driving once again, this time as a school bus driver. This job was one of his most rewarding whether it included tutoring a student in math helping him graduate, or singing to the preschoolers throughout the ride to keep them calmer and entertained. The love of his life, Dot, joined him as an aide for many years, changing a job meant to “get him out of her hair” into a highlight of their later life together.
Throughout his years he had many hobbies and pass times including: a good card game, playing softball, betting on horses, busting people’s chops, playing the lottery, crossword puzzles, word jumbles, hunting, gardening and refinishing furniture. None of those however would outshine his main love of bowling. A past president and occasional secretary to the Rochester Bowling Association, you could find his photo for many years on the walls of local bowling halls. Bowling was not just a passion, it was an obsession. He played, competed and coached. When the Rochester Bowling Hall of Fame first wanted to induct him he declined. He was a perfectionist and his record had not yet reach his own self-imposed standards. Years later he would be inducted and brought into the RBHoF fold. He continued bowling into his seventies. When he could no longer get the results he demanded of himself, he passed the torch on to one of his grandsons.
Ultimately, in the nuts and bolts of it all, in the end his devotion was to one… Dorothy. His beloved. His Dot. The nurturer to his disciplinarian. The soft to his hard. The Mom to his Dad. He dedicated his last few years to “The Boss” and her needs. He would have had it no other way.
Louis was predeceased by his son, John C. Wilson and daughter, Colleen G. Wilson. and is survived by his wife of 62 years, Dorothy; daughters: Patricia (John) Bell, Louise Groves, and Dawn Wilson; many grand and great-grandchildren; sister, Judy (Paul) Lork.
Friends and family are invited to call between 5:00 & 7:00pm, followed by a 7:00pm Service on FRIDAY, March 29 at Miller Funeral and Cremation Services, Inc. (3325 Winton Rd S). Interment private.
Donations may be made in Louis’ name to the American Cancer Society 1120 S Goodman St, Roch. 14620.
