Judith "Ann" Ann (Lewis) Wilson

Judith Ann “Ann” (Lewis) Wilson, most recently of Nacogdoches, was born in Kilgore, TX on November 16, 1943, the daughter of Jet O. and Dorothy A. Lewis; she died on August 26, 2022 in Nacogdoches, at age 78 years 9 months and 10 days.

Both sets of grandparents lived within one block of each other on S. Martin St. in Kilgore and were either just down or across the street from the award-winning pianist, Van Cliburn; one of Ann’s fondest childhood memories was being personally serenaded by him. Another was wooden sword-fighting with her little sister, Toni, in the snow in Germany (they were about 5 and 2 at the time). As an “Army brat” (as she called herself), she lived in Germany, California, the Philippine Islands, and Virginia before Dad’s retirement (after 20 years) to State College, PA; she graduated from high school there. State College is the home of Penn State University, yet she chose to follow in Dad’s footsteps (kind of) and joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Although stationed stateside for her entire tour of duty, she was able to take hops to places like Barbados, where she proudly learned to scuba dive. When her tour ended, she was a Lance Corporal on squadron appointment; throughout her life she made sure that people knew “No one’s ever a ‘former’ Marine - once a Marine, ALWAYS a Marine!” and wore a USMC ball cap the rest of her life to prove it.

Shortly after her discharge, she met her best friend and the love of her life, Ronald L. Wilson, while both were working at HRB Singer; they married on August 19, 2022. But Ron longed to get back to repairing airplanes, so he re-enlisted in the US Air Force (Strategic Air Command), and as his wife, Ann joined him in Germany and at various stateside bases from Alaska to Maine. They ended up in Dover, DE, where Ron not only worked on Air Force One, but also had the privilege of taxiing it on occasion. They retired in Delaware and fine-tuned their interest in building and flying remote-controlled airplanes, doing some beautiful aerial photography from them. Ann started hunting and killed, dressed, and butchered her own deer (and cooked it, too). She was an accomplished shot, having been trained by Dad, who had also trained US Army Pistol Teams.

Ann had many hobbies; she was skilled at wood carving, spinning wool with a spindle or spinning wheel, knitting, tatting, crocheting, embroidery, quilting, drawing, and other creative outlets. She started oil painting about 18 months before her death; the tail of a curious young cat she adopted cut that hobby short. Ann was not only a writer, but also a voracious reader, of science fiction. Her proudest career accomplishment was writing for, editing, and publishing BiFrost, a small-press science fiction magazine. But since the early 1990s, her consistent hobby has been playing The Elder Scrolls video role-playing games, which she played daily thru the day prior to her July 2022 hospitalization.

Her beloved Ron predeceased her, shortly after their 54th wedding anniversary in 2020. She was also predeceased by her parents and by a niece (Maryann Face) and a nephew (Matthew Moore). Surviving her are sisters Toni Trees and Robin Moore and husband, Dr. John T. Moore, all of Nacogdoches, a nephew, Jason Moore and wife Sara and their twins, Sadie and Zane Moore of Candler, NC, a sister-in-law, Patsy Johnstonbaugh and husband Ed, along with other numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.

A family graveside service will be held at Cushing Cemetery where her inurned remains and those of her husband, Ron, will be interred next to Ann’s parents and her niece, Maryann. A Service of Witness to The Resurrection will be held at a future date.

Our thanks to the staffs of Nacogdoches Medical Center, Stallings Court, and Heart to Heart Hospice for the care they provided Ann since July 22, 2022, and to Mary & Chappell Jordan, Pastor Kallie Pitcock, and Ann’s friends at Ace of Spades for being there for Ann over the years.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Marine Corps – Law Enforcement Foundation at https://www.mc-lef.org/ to provide $35,000 educational accounts for every child who loses a parent serving in the U.S. Marine Corps or a federal law enforcement agency, to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nacogdoches, or to the charity of your choice.

Arrangements are under the direction of Cason Monk-Metcalf Funeral Directors.