Dr. James Thompson (Jim) Wilson, Sr. went home to Jesus on Saturday morning, September 10, 2022. He was 91. He died peacefully at his home in McKinney, Texas, surrounded by his loving family and with his devoted dogs at his side.
On January 17, 1931, Jim and his twin brother Paul were born in McKinney to Ruth Thompson Wilson and Paul Kincaid Wilson, Sr. Jim was second. He arrived 20 minutes after Paul, and they joked Paul would get the inheritance and Jim would get all the bills. The Wilson twins, 5th generation Collin County residents, were embraced by their large extended family and were well loved by the whole community. Life revolved around church, Boy Scouts, and sports. They enjoyed a happy and active childhood; Jim described his early years as “Mayberry times.” However, tragedy struck at an early age. When he was five years old, his 11-year-old sister Ann suddenly died of spinal meningitis. After Ann’s death, his mother struggled with grief and debilitating depression. His mother’s sister, Rachel Mae Thompson Griffin, stepped in as a caretaker during particularly dark periods, and she was a significant source of support throughout his life. Jim treasured his large family and maintained and enjoyed close relationships with all his relatives. Like his aunt, he was a source of support and guidance for countless family members and friends in need throughout his life.
Jim grew up in the First Baptist Church of McKinney, where his mother was the organist. He said they were in church every time the doors were open. The church was located at what is now Mitchell Park just west of the downtown square, and his house was two blocks away on Louisiana Street. The Baptist Church didn’t have air conditioning, so they just left the doors open in the summers. The twins’ dog Fibber was their constant companion and would often follow them to church. When Fibber felt like it, he would walk in the open doors, amble down the aisle, and join the twins in the front pew. Jim described having Fibber at church with him as one of the highlights of his childhood. At age eight, on Easter Sunday, he and Paul decided to join the church, and they were both baptized. A few summers later, at a Baptist Encampment Youth Camp, as “Only Believe” was being sung, he felt he fully accepted Christ and understood the life-changing significance of God’s amazing love.
Jim’s dad served as Scoutmaster, so Jim and Paul were very active in Boy Scouts and spent much of their free time outdoors. When the weather was nice, they camped with their troop most weekends, and they went to Scout camp for several weeks every summer. Jim made many treasured, lifelong friendships through Scouts and credited his time in Boy Scouts as playing a major role in shaping and strengthening his values. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout with all three Eagle Palms.
Jim’s dad taught him the value of hard work. His family was from modest means, and they didn’t own a car until he was a senior in college. He held a variety of jobs growing up in order to contribute. To earn free lunches in elementary school, he and Paul worked in the lunchroom helping carry the younger students’ trays. He said the lunchroom job was his favorite of all time – “hands down” – because the lunch ladies gave the twins all the cake and pie they could eat. He had paper routes throughout the school year and spent his summers as a young teen picking cotton and lifeguarding at the VA pool (where Finch Park is now). Later, he worked at the RC Cola Bottling Plant, Collin County Lumber, and for the Texas Highway Department and the U.S. National Park Service.
He attended McKinney schools, and graduated in the top of his class. In high school, he participated in drama and sang in a male quartet. He enjoyed performing and writing funny skits and plays. Jim stood about 5’9” tall. He said almost every girl was taller than he was during his young life, at least until about the 10th or 11th grade. He claimed this forced him to develop a good sense of humor, so the girls would “give him the time of day.” Despite his size, Jim was a gifted athlete. He lettered all four years in football, playing halfback, and lettered in basketball three years and baseball two years.
Football was a lifelong obsession. He could recount every single down of many of his high school games to the delight of his grandsons. The only significant life regret he ever spoke of was allowing Highland Park’s winning touchdown his senior year. Playing defensive back, a pass was thrown over him and caught by a Scot in the final 58 seconds of the game, resulting in a Highland Park touchdown and a 7-0 loss for the Lions. He had a positive attitude in every other respect, but the mention of Highland Park brought him down every time.
He attended Austin College on a football scholarship, playing all four years. He was president of his fraternity Phi Sigma Alpha in his junior year. He also was elected student body president and his brother Paul was vice president. In his junior year, it was love at first sight for him when he met Marian Sherard, but it was not until a year later when she agreed to go out with him. Jim studied pre-med and graduated from Austin College with a degree in English. He was an avid reader and writer throughout his life. Upon graduation, he was unsure what to do. He was accepted to Princeton Theological Seminary, Southern Methodist University Law School, UT Southwestern Medical School, and the graduate program in English at Rice University. He went to graduate school and studied English for a year at Rice to buy himself some time. There, he developed a great appreciation for poetry and literature and began to write poetry and short stories of his own. His favorite writers were Robert Frost, William Blake, Robert Browning, and William James. In his thirties, he was a founder of the Mockingbird Poetry Society in McKinney, and the group published several books of their poems. Later in his life, he primarily read Christian books and particularly appreciated Charles Stanley, Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, Oswald Chambers, and A. W. Tozer.
Jim ultimately decided to follow in his twin brother’s footsteps and become a doctor. Paul had begun medical school a year earlier. A week before starting at Southwestern, he and Marian married on August 23, 1955. During med school, Marian worked as a teacher in Dallas and supported the family, and their oldest daughter Jennie was born. Upon graduation, Jim joined the Navy and the family lived in the Philippines where he was one of the few doctors on base. He would occasionally tell stories about his adventures overseas when his grandchildren begged. Dr. Jim delivered his only son Jim Jr. in an ambulance in the middle of the jungle on the way to the hospital. He operated on a Pygmy chief outside because the man refused to go inside a hospital. He helped set up a field hospital to end a cholera outbreak in a rural mountain village. Once, a monkey broke into the family home and tried to run off with baby Jim Jr. Dr. Jim was a wonderful story teller, often leaving a room full of people laughing or crying, but he was an even better listener. Since witnessing his mother’s struggle with depression following his sister’s tragic death as a child, he developed an interest in psychology and felt led to help people struggling with mental illness. He decided to specialize in psychiatry.
After his time in the Navy, the family moved back to the United States for Dr. Jim to complete his psychiatric residency. His youngest daughter, Amy, was born in Maryland. They moved to Virginia and later to Oklahoma City, where he was beginning his psychiatric practice when his best friend and twin brother Dr. Paul was tragically killed in a car accident at the age of 33. Paul’s death was a devastating loss to the family and the community. Dr. Jim moved his young family back home to care for his parents and ended up taking over his brother’s family practice. He practiced family medicine in McKinney from 1967 until he retired. While he didn’t end up practicing psychiatry as planned, he used his training to help many of his patients who were struggling with depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses. McKinney was so small in those days that a psychiatrist or any other specialist couldn’t be found for miles, so he felt his experience in psychiatry and his own struggles with depression were blessings and gave him better insight to treat the whole person. He was the team doctor for his beloved McKinney Lions for years, rarely missing a football game. He served on countless charitable boards and gave generously to many causes.
Dr. Jim loved his hometown, so he was especially honored to be named Citizen of the Year in 2010. The award was a complete surprise to him; he likely would have refused to attend the dinner had he known he was a recipient. In typical fashion, he began his acceptance speech with a joke about a misplaced suppository, surely a first for the Chamber of Commerce. He loved jokes and always had one ready.
Sweatshirts were his uniform. He wore one every day, unless he was going to a funeral or other important occasion. He didn’t care about fancy clothes or things and was consistently humble, kind, and hilarious. Later in life, he backed into something in his white car, leaving a big scratch. He “fixed” it by painting over the scratch with Wite-Out. At least two dogs lived in his house at any given time, usually more. Dr. Jim never met a dog or cat he didn’t like. He loved and overfed dozens of pets during his lifetime. He even started feeding a family of possums in his backyard at one point. One of his favorite dogs, an English bulldog named Tater (pictured), died about a month before his passing. Dr. Jim was heartbroken. We imagine Tater was one of about 100 dogs excitedly waiting to greet him at the Pearly Gates, all expecting a snack.
Dr. Jim and family attended First Presbyterian Church for many years and later joined Trinity Presbyterian Church. He attended the same weekly Bible study for decades and had many cherished church friends who became like family. An active church member, his faith in Jesus was the foundation of his life. He was a deacon and later an elder. He served many terms on the session/governing board. He taught Sunday School his entire adult life. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when church was closed, he began teaching family Sunday School at his home. Until three weeks before his death, he taught his children and grandchildren, their spouses, and his great-grandchildren about Jesus. Every Sunday morning, he’d ask rhetorically, “Is the Holy Spirit real?,” then he’d knock twice on the table and say, “Real as this table!”
Dr. Jim truly never met a stranger. He took the time to speak to anyone who happened to cross his path. He didn’t care if you had earbuds in or were on the phone – he was going to have a conversation with you if you walked by his house. His presence made everyone feel special, and he spent his life taking an interest in people and taking care of those in need. He loved his family deeply and took beautiful care of his wife Marian at the end of her life as she suffered with Alzheimer’s disease. Every morning, he wrote notes of encouragement to people who came to mind, sending thousands over his lifetime. He had Bible verses and little encouraging signs all over his house. One of his favorites had the word “JOY” spelled in all caps: Jesus, Others, You. He picked up several more from the church bazaar this Christmas. The reminder was all over his house and all over his life. “Jesus first, others second, and yourself last – that’s just all there is to it.” He leaves a legacy of humility, humor, love, and unrelenting faith.
Dr. Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Ruth and Paul Wilson; his sister, Anna Rebecca (Ann) Wilson; his twin brother, Paul Kincaid Wilson, Jr.; and his beloved wife, Marian Letitia Sherard Wilson.
He is survived by his three children: Jennifer Ruth (Jennie) Wilson Davis of McKinney; James Thompson (Jim) Wilson Jr. and wife Jennifer Jo Hipp Wilson of McKinney; Amy Rebecca Wilson Kelly and husband Patrick Lee (Pat) Kelly of Albany, Texas; his 10 grandchildren: Rachel Wilson Davis Pittman and husband Ryan David Pittman; Don Weaver Davis II and wife Ashley Ann Williams Davis; Neil Eugene (Cotton) Davis, Jr. and wife Brooke Ashley Norman Davis; Anson Kincaid Wilson and wife Lauren Elizabeth (Lo) Estrada Wilson; George Patrick Kelly; Thomas Gardner Hill Wilson; Lewis Alton Kelly; Makenzie Jo (Kenzie) Reeves; Abraham Deaton (Abe) Wilson; and Henry Atticus Kelly; his nine great-grandchildren: Don Weaver (Trey) Davis III; August James Pittman; Caroline Anabelle Davis; Marian Elizabeth Pittman; Emma James Davis; Marigold Ruth (Goldie) Davis; Caldwell Wilson Davis; Denver Scott Wilson; and Bingham Mark (Bing) Davis; his sister-in-law: Shirley Delores (Lee) Dale Wilson Gary of Richardson, Texas; and his many nieces, nephews, and cousins who meant so much to him.
Dr. Jim donated his body to UT Southwestern Medical School, following, as always, his own advice to all of us to “take the high road.”
A come-and-go visitation with the family will be held from 5-7 p.m., Thursday, September 29, 2022, at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, October 1, 2022, at Trinity Presbyterian Church of McKinney, 5871 Virginia Parkway, McKinney, Texas.
Memorials may be made to Holy Family School in McKinney, The Samaritan Inn in McKinney, Trinity Presbyterian Church in McKinney or Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services in Waxahachie.