SOUTHPORT — Shirley Abbott Wilson, 77, died of complications of pulmonary fibrosis Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. She passed away peacefully under the excellent care of SECU Hospice House of Brunswick — Lower Cape Fear Hospice, Bolivia, with her family at her bedside.
Born April 28, 1941, in Ashton Crossroads near Burgaw, Shirley worked as a secretary in Raleigh with her best friend Phyllis Roberson and met her future husband Woody Wilson Jr. He chased her two years before she finally said yes! They were married in 1966 at First Presbyterian Church, Raleigh.
She was an Army wife and heavily involved with community service for Woody’s 30-year career while stationed in the U.S. and Germany. It was a hard but rewarding life, and when Woody deployed to Vietnam and many other places during his career, it was Shirley who kept the family going. She was the original Energizer Bunny. After Woody retired from Fort Bragg in 1996, they settled in Oak Island, before moving to Southport in 2003. It soon became the home and community they truly loved.
Shirley served on and was a lifetime member of the Southport Historical Society, a board member of The Friends of the NC Maritime Museum at Southport for eight years and was a Southport Visitors Center volunteer and proudly served as a Brunswick County Board of Elections volunteer for 15 years. Woody and Shirley worked as a team for 53 full and lively years.
Shirley is survived by her husband, retired U.S. Army Col. Woodrow O. Wilson Jr.; their two sons, Woody Carsky-Wilson, and his wife, Meg, and their children, Lucas, Andrew, Marcus, Erik and Celia, and Andrew Scott Wilson, and his wife, Sharon, and daughter, Victoria.
Shirley wants her memorial to be like she lived her life. “I don’t want people to be sad when I die. There should be dancing and music,” she said many times.
Thank you for all the love and support we received from so many friends and family.
A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23, at Southport Presbyterian Church with interment immediately following the service in the memorial gardens on site. The family will receive friends at the church fellowship hall following the celebration of life.
A special thanks to Stephen Ministries for all the love and spiritual support provided and to the special hospice staff (Jennie and Kim) who took such loving care of her at home as she declined.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to Southport Presbyterian Church, the SECU Hospice House in Bolivia or the North Carolina Maritime Museum at Southport.
Share online condolences with the family at Peacock-Newnam & White Funeral & Cremation Service.
