Obituary of John K. Wilson

John Kevin Wilson passed away suddenly Thursday evening October 19, 2023, while walking his dog, Ellie Grace.

John was the 4th son born to Curly and Darlene on May 15, 1960 in Elgin, IL. There he developed his lifelong love of sports and participated in Little League with his older brother Andy. The Family moved to Tucson in 1972, where he has lived ever since. He attended Carson Junior High School and graduated from Santa Rita High School in 1978. During high school John studied industrial arts and home economics and became quite a good cook. His lasagna is a family favorite!

John’s mechanical aptitude and love of helping others led him to a 30-year career in customer service at Industrial Tool & Supply. His ability to solve customer’s problems, be they technical or logistical, is still legendary in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. It was here he met and married Robyn and became an instant stepdad to 3 children, Ryon, Nicole and Albert. Although the marriage didn’t last, John continued to give his love and support to all of them.

John and Albert Riesgo, the youngest, formed an incredibly special relationship and bond. It was through Albert that John came to be involved with Sabino Road Baptist Church. The loving community of SRBC became the vehicle whereby John could express his love of people and the Lord. Ultimately, John became a deacon of the church and helped people wherever and whenever he could.

All this time John never lost his love of sports, and in particular, baseball. He competed in the Senior Baseball League in southern Arizona and attended many Senior Baseball League World Series in Scottsdale over the years. He was one of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ biggest fans. He played baseball up until suffering a stroke on December 22, 2010.

The brain damage John suffered from that stroke affected the communication center in his brain and left him with Aphasia. Aphasia is an inability to communicate verbally, and although frustrating for him, he always took it with a sense of humor and good will. For the last 12 years John took part in studies, therapies, and group work at the University of Arizona Aphasia Research Center. This helped him immensely with his ability to communicate, but it also helped a great many UofA students become speech therapists to others afflicted with aphasia over the years.

John is survived by his son, Albert, his dog, Ellie, his three brothers, Mike, Chris, Andy and his sister, Trudie. John was a man with a giant heart and a capacity for giving and will be missed by all who knew him.