Chaplain Jim Wilson (Dr. James R. Wilson, Jr., retired Commander Chaplain Corps US Navy) said of his view of the summary of his life, “I came, I stayed a while, I did a few things, and then I went to be with Jesus.” He went to be with Jesus on May 23, 2025, at age 83, after a courageous two-year battle with pancreatic cancer, a disease that destroyed his body physically but could never penetrate his soul. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, from 6-8 pm at K.L. Brown Memory Chapel in Golden Springs.
A Celebration of Life Service will be at 9:30 am on Thursday, May 29, 2025 at FBC Eagle Point in Jacksonville, AL with Dr. Derek Staples officiating. Burial will follow at 1:15 pm at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo, AL.
Chaplain Wilson grew up in Jacksonville, Alabama, where he excelled in various endeavors in the community, church, and school, where he graduated Valedictorian of the 1959 JHS senior class. While a teenager, Jim felt a unique call to ministry that remained with him until his death. He was saved and baptized at FBC Jacksonville and was later licensed to the gospel ministry by the church. In the last few years, he has served as Deacon and Sunday School teacher, roles that he so much treasured.
After graduating from Howard College (Samford University) in Birmingham, he taught school while pastoring his first church at Wofford’s Cross Roads in Georgia. It was there that FBC Jacksonville ordained him to the gospel ministry. Soon afterward, he, his wife Carol, and their two-year-old daughter Susan, with all their worldly goods in a U-Haul trailer, headed to Fort Worth, Texas, to begin his seminary studies. After graduation, he entered the US military as a Navy Chaplain, where he served for twenty-two years. During those years, Jim was privileged to minister to sailors and Seebees and Marines and submariners. The Lord blessed his Chaplaincy in many ways that included building friendships that lasted long after another assignment at another place. While at Great Lakes, Illinois, he was senior chaplain for the Recruit Training Command. He retired from the Navy while stationed at the Naval Hospital in Pensacola, Florida.
He continued with his call to minister to others by serving as a Chaplain at the Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, a position he enjoyed for five years. The next opportunity was teaching high school students in Gainesville, Georgia. After that, the Lord blessed his life by guiding him to become Chaplain at RMC in Anniston, a position he loved for twenty-six years and continued until cancer interrupted. During those wonderful years, more friendships were formed and many lives were changed. Only God and those whose lives Chaplain Wilson touched will ever know of his generosity. His listening skills knew no bounds. He always had time for anyone who happened to drop by for a visit. He had a special affinity for those who needed a helping hand. In addition to his Chaplain ministry, Jim had the privilege to serve as pastor of churches in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. Those in the church body in each of those places knew Chaplain Wilson to be a pastor and friend who was always available. Above all, Chaplain Wilson modeled every good word he ever spoke and thanked God regularly for His unceasing love, provision, and sustaining power. He lived the last few months of pain and changes to his life with such dignity and resolve: never quit pushing forward to enjoy life to the fullest until God “sent for me,” as he always said. Micah 6:8 speaks of a life well lived: “O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
God blessed Chaplain Wilson with a loving, caring family. He was preceded in death by his parents James Roscoe and Juanita Brittain Wilson.
Rest in Peace James R Wilson Jr forever loved.
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