News News Obituaries Obituary - January 24, 2014
Obituary - January 24, 2014
- Details
- Published on Friday, 24 January 2014 11:08
- Written by GR Staff
Larry Michael Wilson died January 13 in Jocotepec.
Wilson was born on March 18, 1946 in Hickman County, Kentucky – the youngest of 13 children.
He graduated from Hickman County High School and Murray State University with a bachelor’s degree in biology. After serving as a military policeman in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, he returned to MSU to earn a master’s degree in botany.
Wilson taught at Carlisle County High School for several years before moving to Tennessee where he joined the staff at Memphis Pink Palace Museum. There, Wilson created the Oxbow Exhibit to teach about progression plants in river systems. He also propagated native plants for the spring plant sales. He collected vast amounts of native plants to add to the Herbarium.
Wilson was active in the Wild Flower Society of Memphis, serving as president. He also served on the board of directors of the Tennessee Native Plant Society as its representative for West Tennessee. He was active in the Horticulture Society of Memphis, again serving as president, and received the Horticulture Society Award of Excellence.
Wilson moved to Mexico ten years ago, traveling around until he found his perfect home in Jocotepec. He was an avid gardener and kept his friends well supplied with every sort of fruit and vegetable. When he had excess he would go to the Thursday market and give it to the vegetable stand. Weekends would find him and his friends hiking around the dry lakebeds looking for artifacts and other treasures.
Wilson was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, Herman Wilson, Clyde Wilson, Jr., and Warren Wilson, and two sisters, Martha Houston and Glenna Cashion. He is survived by five brothers, Charlie K. Wilson of Hickman County, James B. Wilson of Smithtown, New York, David C. Wilson (Martha Ann), Bobby J. Wilson (Sue) of Hickman County, Douglas Wilson of Memphis; and two sisters, Joyce Woodford of Memphis, and Joan Granger (Art Stuber) of Champaign, Illinois. He will be greatly missed by his family, his nieces and nephews, and his many friends both in the United States and Mexico.
