Sterling Howard Wilson

Sterling Howard Wilson, 51, of Austin, Texas passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, after a fierce four-year-long battle with cancer on Tuesday, May 17, 2011. Sterling was born in Temple, Texas, on January 2, 1960, at Scott and White Hospital, to Sam and Sonia Wolf Wilson. He was baptized at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The family moved to Austin in 1963, when he was three years old, to start Wilson Oxygen and Supply Co.

Sterling was a 1978 graduate of LC Anderson High School, in Austin, Texas. He was the quarterback and captain of the Trojan football team and also played baseball for Anderson. Sterling was Mr. AHS, the “Homecoming King”, and a member of Who’s Who. Sterling and his brother were acolytes for six years at Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church.

Following high school, Sterling attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He was a three-year letterman on the SMU Mustang football team and played from September 1978 to January 1, 1983. During his junior year, SMU played in the Holiday Bowl, finished with a 10-1 season and he earned his first Southwest Conference Championship ring. He received his second Southwest Conference Championship ring his senior year. That year the SMU Mustangs were again Southwest Conference Champions, had an undefeated season and won the Cotton Bowl. He loved playing football at SMU, meeting so many lifelong friends, and being part of such a wonderful and talented team. Sterling graduated from SMU in 1983, with a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology.

After college, Sterling married the love of his life, Lauren Enz Wilson, on July 28, 1984 at the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest in Lake Forest, Illinois. The two moved to Austin and Sterling joined the family business, Wilson Oxygen and Supply Company, which he helped grow from the smallest of its type in Austin to the largest independent industrial specialty gas distributorship in the United States. He worked as Vice President of Sales until the business was sold in 1995. The next five years, he worked for Praxair traveling all over the United States and Canada critiquing distributorships. He began working at Precision Oxygen in 1999 until his death.

In March of 1990, Lauren and Sterling became the proud parents of twins, Trent McBee Wilson and Grant Kimbell Wilson. Throughout their childhood, Sterling shared his love of the outdoors with them as they went hunting, SCUBA diving, golfing, snow skiing and traveling. Sterling grew up hunting with his dad and brother and passed this tradition on to his twins. He went SCUBA diving all over the world, but especially enjoyed cage diving with great white sharks. As a family, they traveled to numerous countries on six of the world’s seven continents.

Sterling was an active member of the SMU Letterman’s Association, a long time member of the Austin Country Club and The Admirals Club. He was a graduate of the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School in Boston and served on the Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School Board of Trustees for three years. He was honored by the Austin Tennis Academy as their 2010 recipient of the Star Award and was one of the founders of Austin Tennis Academy. Sterling and Lauren were honored this April, by the National Dating Abuse Helpline, receiving the first Life Style Award. St. Andrew’s Episcopal School recently honored Sterling by dedicating the beautiful stained glass Chancel Window in his name. Sterling was a member of Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church.

Sterling loved all sports, especially those that his twin sons played – tennis, golf, football, basketball and lacrosse while they attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. One could always see Sterling in the bleachers at any game, cheering on the Crusaders. He soon became a Crimson Tide fan after his sons enrolled at the University of Alabama.

Sterling is survived by his loving wife of 26 years, Lauren Enz Wilson, twin sons Grant Kimbell and Trent McBee Wilson; and parents Sam and Sonia Wilson all of Austin, Texas. Also surviving him are parents-in-law, Lee and Marilyn Enz of Aspen, Colorado and Lake Forest, Illinois; brother, Steve Wilson and Nancy Wilson and their twins, Brooke and Lydia Wilson; sister, Sharon Wilson and her children Catherine, Caroline, and Claire Wilson Chlebowski, all of Austin, Texas; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Ed and Carolyn Kyritz and their children, Kendall, Courtney and Tommy Kyritz of Darien, Connecticut.

Sterling bravely fought his cancer without losing hope. His battle is one that will always inspire us. His “Challenges” through Facebook made us look inside ourselves and ask if we were doing all that is necessary to be a better person. He taught us that the most important thing in life is to have strong connections with other people. He embodied his teachings through his zest for life and his strong love of family and friends. Sterling touched the lives of many and he will be missed throughout the Austin community.

The family wants to extend a special thank you to the staff at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Dr. Peter Pisters, Adria Kowis, RN, Dr. Shreyaskumar Patel, Josey Jose, RN and Don Vold. The family is grateful for the exceptional care given by Dr. Richard Helmer, Laura Wendlandt, RN and Robin Pritchett at Texas Oncology.

A service of gratitude for Sterling’s life will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 11:30 am at Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas.

Should you wish to make a memorial contribution, gifts may be made in Sterling’s name to St. Andrews’s Episcopal School, 1112 West 31st Street, Austin, Texas 78705 or the Sterling Wilson Leadership Scholarship at the Austin Tennis Academy, made via AASF, 3801 N. Cap of Texas Hwy, E240-161, Austin, TX 78746.

A private family burial will be held at Austin Memorial Park.