Asa Calvin Wilson

December 27, 1924 – February 26, 2015

Asa Wilson, 90, of Vancouver, Washington passed away February 26, 2015.

Asa was born at his parent’s farm near Lancaster, California and attended local schools there. He served in the Navy during World War II and was in the V-12 Officer’s Training Program in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when the war ended. He received his B.S. Degree in 1948 and his M.S. degree in 1951, both in Civil Engineering from the University of New Mexico.

On February 26, 1948 he married Patricia Denny, of Gallup, New Mexico. He worked building houses in Albuquerque for a short time, then worked for the Sandia Corp, Albuquerque, New Mexico, as stress analyst in nuclear weapons and equipment, for General Electric Co, San Ramon, California, as an aerospace engineer on gas turbine engines, for AiResearch Corporation, as an Aerospace Engineer, and for Westinghouse Electric, in Madison, Pennsylvania, as a Nuclear Reactor stress analyst. Because of his career, he moved his family from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Danville, California, Paradise Valley, Arizona, and Greensburg, Pennsylvania. In 1987, he moved to Ambridge, Pennsylvania where he attended the Episcopal seminary for a year and started a remodeling project of an old house. Throughout his life, he loved working on designing and building houses, gardening, and later in life sought deeper spiritual understanding. He moved to Vancouver, Washington in 2004 to be closer to family and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, lived at the Hampton, a Memory Care facility near his youngest son. He succumbed to the disease, and died at the age of 90.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia (Denny) Wilson, parents Asa Z. Wilson and Esther M. Wilson, sister Esther (Bruce) Lokke, and brothers David Wilson, William Wilson, and James Wilson.

He is survived by his sisters, Margie Early and Nancy Matthews; his children David Wilson of Denver, Colorado, Richard Wilson of Meridian, Idaho, and Douglas Wilson of Vancouver, Washington; grandchildren Aaron Wilson of Chehalis, Washington, Lindsay Wilson of Denver, Colorado, Robin Wilson of Meridian, Idaho, Ashley Wilson of Dallas, Texas, Marceline Wilson of Vancouver, Washington, and Douglas Wilson Jr. of Vancouver, Washington, and many nieces and nephews.

A grave side service for family and close friends will take place at 10:00 AM Friday, March 6, at Lancaster Cemetery District, 111 E. Lancaster Blvd., Lancaster, CA 93535. A memorial reception will follow at 11:30.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Asa’s memory to Habitat for Humanity (http://www.habitat.org/support/giftfromtheheart.aspx) or the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) or to a charity of the donor’s choice.