Francis Edward "Ted" Wilson

Wilson Francis Edward " Ted " Ted Wilson died on 14 August 2011 at Salvington Lodge Hospital, Worthing,
at the age of 89.

He had a unique life. At the age of 15 he joined the new model airplane club in London and started the magazine for the club, which endures today. During WWII, having been exempted from military service, due to his critical job in the machine tool industry, he travelled the country helping companies solve problems to better support the war effort.

Ted rose through the engineering and management ranks, though not formally educated, to become the Managing Director of Staveley Industries, with 15,000 people working for him. At the age of 50, he found he was making more from the stock market than from his salary, so he retired.

Always intent on giving to the community, Ted started teaching tennis in West Sussex, where he gave freely of his time to teach some 7,000 young people over a period of 20 years. Upon retiring from teaching Ted became involved in community work in Steyning. He chaired the Patient Participation Group at the Steyning surgery, managed and edited the Group's Good Health magazine and worked tirelessly to secure a new health centre.

Ted spent his last seven years in hospital, having had several operations for cancer and other problems. Mentally alert until the end, Ted worked closely with his broker to maximise his investments. He gave extensively to many charities while alive, but he and his wife, Margaret, who predeceased him, left the bulk of their estate to the Wilson Memorial Trust Ltd, a charity that he founded in 2000, which is dedicated to improving the health and welfare of the people of the Steyning area.

Ted's funeral will take place on Friday, September 2 at 1200 noon
at the Worthing Crematorium.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Barnabas Hospice or Cancer Research.