Born on December 11, 1942, in Seattle, Washington, she was the second of three children born to Mary Elizabeth “Dixie” Tuck Edwards and Herbert Meredith Edwards. Following graduation from Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Washington, she attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma Washington where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy in 1965. She worked as a certified occupational therapist for several years until the birth of her children.
Jan was an enthusiastic member of the Girl Scouts and Mariner Girl Scouts as a little girl, young woman, and adult camp counselor in Seattle, earning the highest award at the time of gold curved bar. She continued her scouting career as a troop leader and was recognized numerous times for her volunteer service to the Pines of Carolina Girl Scout Council. Jan was also a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church where she became a Stephens Minister and a special member of the United Methodist Women. Most recently, she was a member of the Harrison United Methodist Church of Indian Land, SC.
Jan married Dean Andrew Wilson in Seattle, Washington, on October 11, 1969. She was a loving mother to Carla Lynn Wilson (Barrett) born July 5, 1971, and Eric Edwards Wilson born July 7, 1975, whom she raised in Boulder, Colorado; Bellevue, Washington; and Cary, North Carolina. She and Dean moved to the SaddleBrooke community near Tucson, Arizona following Dean’s retirement in 1998. Both Dean and Jan enjoyed hiking and the outdoors tremendously and were hike leaders in the SaddleBrooke hiking club. Jan loved leading hiking groups from SaddleBrooke on many slower but challenging hikes, often including unplanned adventures!
In 2013, Jan and Dean moved to the 55+ community of Sun City Carolina Lakes in Indian Land, SC. More recently, Jan has resided at the Brightmore of South Charlotte senior independent living community, near her son and his family, and where she has enjoyed making many friends and participating in many activities including swimming, card games, sewing, and trips to local performances.
Jan was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Dean Andrew Wilson. She is survived by her siblings - younger brother Carl Edwards and older sister Lynn Edwards Miller; her daughter Carla Lynn Wilson Barrett, son-in-law Gary Michael Wieboldt, and step-grandson Dylan August Wieboldt Liedy; and her son Eric Edwards Wilson, daughter-in-law Melissa Beth Rosenberry Wilson, granddaughter Morgan Elizabeth Wilson, and grandson Blake Andrew Wilson.
A drop-in celebration of life will be held in Jan’s honor on July 29th, 2023 from 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM at Brightmore of South Charlotte located at 10225 Old Ardrey Kell Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277.
For those wishing to send memorial gifts, please consider:
Girl Scouts of North Carolina Coastal Pines https://give.nccoastalpines.org/give/403789/#!/donation/checkout ,
Harrison United Methodist Church www.loavesandfishes.org ,
or The Nature Conservancy https://preserve.nature.org/page/80429/donate/1 .
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.McEwenPinevilleChapel.com for the Wilson family.
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