Obituaries

Recent Obituaries
In Memoriam Archive

Mary Louise Ormsbee Wilson ’42

Mary Louise Ormsbee Wilson ’42, July 4, 2001, respectively, in Blue River, Oregon, of age-related causes. Mary studied at Simmons College and worked as a legal secretary for a group of patent attorneys at MIT’s radiation lab. Mary and William Wilson ’43 were married in 1942 in Montana, and in 1943 they moved to Santa Monica, California, where he took a job with Douglas Aircraft Company as a stress analyst on military aircraft and also taught classes at UCLA. Mary worked at an aircraft products firm and later worked at UCLA in the undergraduate dean’s office. After World War II, they moved to Portland and then to Spokane, Washington, where he worked in engineering firms and became a partner in a Spokane architectural firm. He began his own practice in Spokane in 1953. During this time, Mary was a homemaker, raising their four children, and also attended classes at Eastern Washington University, Cheney. In 1956 they moved to Eugene, Oregon, where William enrolled in the University of Oregon School of Architecture and continued to build his architectural and engineering practice. He retired in 1991 and they moved to Blue River in 1996. In the 1970s Mary developed a hat-making business, designing and producing ski hats for a major Northwest ski manufacturing company. The couple enjoyed downhill skiing, white water rafting, volunteering in a literacy program, and music. Survivors include three sons, a daughter, and five grandchildren.

Appeared in Reed magazine: November 2001

comments powered by Disqus