William 'Cody' Wilson

October 3, 1929 –

February 24, 2018

Cody was a man of intention. If his mind was committed to completing a task, he always found a way to follow through, even when the odds were stacked against him.

Born in Wichita, Kansas, to Johnnie Mabel (Hamby) and Charles Theodore Wilson. Cody graduated from Jacksboro High School in Texas, and joined the Navy in 1948.

In 1958, his ship came into port in Wellington, New Zealand. He stopped at the Post Office to send a telegram, and met his future bride, Margaret Ann Ashworth. Cody was only in New Zealand for one week, but it was long enough to capture Margaret's heart. After corresponding for a year his love letters wooed her, he proposed on gold letterhead and mailed a ticket to fly her to Australia. In Melbourne they were married while he was on the U.S. destroyer Chevalier as a gunner's mate. He remained at sea while Margaret flew to her new home in San Diego, awaiting her husband's arrival.

When Cody returned, their new life together began, and soon arrived the addition of their 5 children. Karen (Mike) Hulstrom of Kingston, Idaho; Dwayne (Gwen) Wilson of Las Vegas, Nevada; Eric (Sue) Wilson of Pinedale, Wyoming; Kim (Matt) Tarka of Fort Collins, Colorado; and Cody (Amy) Wilson of Sheridan, Wyoming. The Wilson clan provided Cody and Margaret with 17 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

Cody retired from the Navy after 20 years of service and owned "Cody's Welding Shop" in Las Vegas.

He loved camping, and more than a few notable memories were created particularly at the family's favorite destination, Trickle Park in Grand Mesa National Forest, Colorado. Camping was the family's past time in "the bus" or with the "Red Stone Rangers." Undeniably getting the bus stuck, but he always found a haphazard way of getting out of any predicament.

They moved to Cedaredge, Colorado in the 1980's where he opened a welding shop and worked for Delta County.

In the early 1990's Cody and Margaret moved to Thompson Falls, Montana. Here Cody continued with his passion of restoring old trucks, camping, fishing, and woodworking. It seemed he handcrafted almost every item in their home, always in need of a new project.

They moved to the Silver Valley in 2011. As Cody grew older, his hobbies seemed to become more complex . This seemed to correlate with his increase in frequency of medical adventures, and was well known by doctors and emergency response personnel. He could always be found in the shop building furniture, welding, or restoring his 1971 International truck. Much to the chagrin of his wife Margaret, when he wasn't in the shop he was inside with his number one lady, Charger, his four legged best friend.

He left this world doing what he loved....currently he's with the man upstairs welding on those pearly gates.

Per his wishes, no funeral services will be held.