David Lee Wilson

1943 - 2024

David Lee Wilson

July 26, 1943 – January 9, 2024

David Lee Wilson, age 80, died on January 9, 2024, at St. Mary's Hospital, Madison, WI. A longtime Parkinson's patient, David received all available COVID vaccinations and boosters. Still, he died of complications of COVID.

The oldest child and only son of Alan Todd Wilson and Anabel "Ann" Louise Snyder, David was born July 26, 1943, in Milwaukee, WI. After graduating from Pulaski High School, he stumbled in his first semester in college, nearly "flunking out" and losing the financial support of his parents. After realizing that he had to either attend class or read the material, David thrived academically. At UW-Milwaukee, he completed a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Engineering Physics (1965) and a M.S. in Math (1966). At UW-Madison, he completed a M.S. (1967) and "all but dissertation" Ph.D. graduate work in Computer Science.

David served in the Peace Corps from 1967 to 1969 in Ankara, Turkey, where he taught calculus and computer programming at the Middle East Technical University (METU) and began attending Quaker meetings for the first time. David returned in the summer of 1970 to program a computer-based student records system for METU, now one of Turkey's premier research universities.

Barely six months after being introduced by friends, David and Ann Jarvella were married on July 3, 1971. For several years, they "practiced" parenting by caring for their young niece and nephew, Heather and Bryant, for part of winter breaks and two weeks in the summers, when Ann, then an elementary school teacher, was also "off from school." Later David was a doting father to their daughters, Sonja and Lydia. A supportive husband but mediocre chef, he often cooked for the family while Ann was working late or out of town. For several decades, he worked happily in two half-time jobs at UW-Madison, the first as a technical writer at Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE), an academic unit that he first joined in 1966. In 1974, he began concurrent employment as a computer programmer at the Waisman Center, a UW research hub on developmental disabilities and neurodegenerative diseases. While at Waisman, he collaborated with language researchers under the leadership of the late Professor Larry Shriberg to develop open-source computer programs designed to help therapists evaluate and serve children with unknown causes of speech impairment.

David enjoyed games, especially those that depend on logic. He was a nationally ranked chess player in his young adulthood. For decades, while working at CAE and Waisman, he participated in lunch-hour Sheepshead card games. For fun, he and an electrical engineer friend, James Luscher, built a working computer from a kit (and a few extra parts). Later David wrote a computer-aided solver for the pen-and-paper game dots-and-boxes and developed a computer-based college football rating system, both of which he shared freely and were adopted and used by others around the country. Most recently, he became interested in Connect 4, at which he remained a strong competitor to the end.

David thought carefully and cared deeply about ethical issues. He and his family attended Quaker meetings for years, though - at the same time - he remained a committed atheist and a supporter of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. This contradiction never bothered him. When asked about it, he explained that he never let his atheism stand in the way of his Quakerism. He was an ardent pacifist, never drank alcohol or gambled, supported progressive political and social causes, and was unfailingly honest. He stopped eating red meat in the 1970s - not for health reasons but for moral ones, given the relatively higher intelligence of mammals.

An avid reader of science fiction in his youth, he transitioned to non-fiction in later years, particularly to topics in history and science. He enjoyed music, especially musicals but also folk and classical works. He and Ann sang in the Madison Civic Choir in their pre-parenting lives and later in the Edgewood College Chorale while and after Ann taught there. He was also known to sing and skip in public with his daughters; he was always exuberant, never embarrassed, never self-conscious. He enjoyed life, vacationing every summer in Wisconsin's north woods with his family from the 1980s until 2016.

David was diagnosed with early-stage Parkinson's Disease in 2008 and faced this diagnosis without despair. He worked hard to maintain his facility of movement as long as possible and accepted his increasing disability with equanimity and good cheer. He very, very rarely lost his temper and was a generous colleague and friend. He celebrated the accomplishments of others, particularly those of his family, of whom he was very proud.

Following a serious fall in 2021, he grew to love spending time at the Agrace Adult Day Center multiple days each week. His immediate family is also grateful for several years of overnight support from Senior Helpers Home Care, and by generous on-going help from Madison-based family, the Konops and Tatros. The family was assisted by Foster Funeral Service, and David's body was interred at Natural Path Sanctuary at the Farley Center for Peace, Justice & Sustainability in Verona. His gravestone will read: "Honest, Brilliant, Hopeful."

David is survived by his beloved wife of more than 52 years, Ann Jarvella Wilson; his daughters: Sonja (Timothy) Tatro and Lydia (Adam) Marshall; his grandchildren: Conrad and Bianca Marshall; his sisters: Gail Shively Biek, Allyn "Lynn" (Roy) Konop, and Jessica (Joseph) Mayer; his nieces and nephews: Heather (Ethan) Goldman, Bryant (Kendal Gravitt) Biek, Whitney (Eric Brodeur) Joondeph, Mason (Jenny) DeLonay, Kyle (Denise) Konop, Braden DeLonay, and Todd Konop; and his great-nieces and nephews: Zea and Nevyn Gravitt-Biek and Tarah, Ryan, Heidi, Diane, and William (Liam) DeLonay. He was preceded in death by his parents, Alan and Anabel Wilson; his parents-in-law, Stafford and Florence Jarvella; and his brothers-in-law, Robert Jarvella and Richard Biek.

A Quaker memorial service will be held at Madison Friends Meetinghouse at 1704 Roberts Court, Madison, WI, on Saturday, June 1, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor David might consider a donation to the Wisconsin chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Foundation, the American Friends Service Committee, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, or a progressive organization of their choosing.