Lt. Col. (R) Ronald Eugene Wilson passed away Thursday, March 3, 2022. He was 68.
A memorial service will be 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 26, 2022 at Sorrells Funeral Home in Enterprise with CH (COL-R) Sonny Moore officiating. The family will receive friends at the funeral home beginning at 9:00 a.m. and continue until time of service. A Celebration of Life will be held in Panama City Beach, Florida at a later date.
Lt. Col. Wilson was born January 9, 1954 in Fort Rucker, Alabama to the late Lucian and Carolyn Grimes Wilson. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his son, Bryan Wilson.
Lt. Col. Wilson enlisted in the U.S. Army for the Warrant Officer Flight training program immediately upon graduation from High School in 1972. He served for seven years as an Aviation Warrant Officer and was promoted to the rank of CW3 before earning direct Commission in the Medical Service Corps on January 9, 1981. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1980. Later, he graduated from Troy State University in 1983 with a Masters in International Studies.
Lt. Col. Wilson has served in a myriad of leadership and staff positions throughout his career. His assignments include: 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, 2nd Infantry Division as a platoon leader at Camp Stanton, Korea; he was deployed to Desert Storm as a Flight Operations Officer and served tours in Wiesbaden and Ansbach Germany, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas; finally retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel at Fort Rucker, Alabama in 2002. Some of his notable awards and achievements include, The Legion of Merit, The Bronze Star, six Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, The Army Achievement Medal, The Military Medical Award of Merit, the Expert Field Medical Badge, the Master Army Aviator Badge, Southwest Asian Service Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal and was recognized as an Outstanding Young Man of America in 1983.
He is survived by his wife Lillian Wilson of Panama City Beach, FL; son, MSgt Austin Cadena Wilson of Ft. Walton Beach, FL; daughters, Lori Billingsley of Gulf Breeze, FL and Natalie Delashaw (David Alvarez) of Odessa, TX; grandchildren, Madison, Benton, Lilly, Ashley (Jeremiah), Amy (Sergio), Arin (Kevin), Joshua, Breiana, Ace, and Taylor; and seven great-grandchildren.