Robert L. Wilson

Robert L. Wilson was born at Boston, MA in 1923 to Ray Palmer Wilson and Martha Kilday Wilson. The family lived successively at Boston, Portland ME, Attleboro MA, Rochester NY, Metuchen NJ, and East Orange NJ. He graduated from East Orange High School in 1942 and attended Duke University until early 1943 when he entered the U.S. Army during World War II. He served with the 63rd Infantry Division in the European Theatre of Operations and was discharged as a sergeant in 1946. Immediately after leaving military service he reentered Duke University where he met Mary Jean "Mickie" MacSpadden, a fellow student. They were married in 1949. He graduated from Duke with a B.A. in History in 1950. At Duke he was involved in student publications, was a columnist for the Duke newspaper, editor of the campus humor magazine, and a photographer for the yearbook. In 1951 he became a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1978. In the course of his FBI service the Wilsons lived in Springfield, IL, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Washington, San Juan PR and Miami. In 1967 when the first airliner was hijacked to Cuba, he handled the case and directed the investigation of almost all of the many hijackings that persisted into the early 1970s. After retirement from the FBI he was self-employed as a security consultant and devoted considerable time to his love of flying. He was an active member of Plymouth Congregational Church in Coconut Grove. He and Mickie had two children, Dr. Kim A. Wilson of Vero Beach, FL and Robert L. Wilson, Jr. of Boca Raton as well as daughter-in-law Kathy Wilson and grandchildren Rebecca Wilson and Robert Wilson III.