James Sharp Wilson, III, passed away on January 8, 2013 just a month after his 90th birthday.

Jim, or J. S. Wilson as he was best known as a popular local watercolor artist, was born December 10, 1922 in Canton, Ohio.

He was preceded in death by his wife Ruth Steel Wilson.

He will be greatly missed by his children Tracy (Andy Nelson), Jim (Janice), Chuck (Becky), Scott and Kim (Jan) Wilson and his seven grandchildren.

He was a football star at Canton’s Lehman High School and went to Westminster College on a football scholarship.

World War II took him away, and he became a pilot in the Army Air Force where he met the love of his life, Ruth Steel Wilson who was a WASP and fellow pilot.

After the war he finished college at the University of Chicago where he also got his MBA. His career as an executive at Inland Steel Company lasted 30 years.

Together Jim and Ruth raised five children in Gary’s Miller Beach community. Their son Scott has been a client of The Arc of NW Indiana since the early 1950s. Both Jim and Ruth were active supporters of that wonderful agency.

He loved poetry and had many long poems memorized, which he would recite at gatherings to the delight of family and friends.

He loved sailing the 17 ft. Snipe, which he built himself, on Lake Michigan and on numerous inland lakes of Wisconsin on family vacations. He loved flying and became a private pilot with his own Stinson Voyager enjoying day trips to small airports all around the Midwest. But most of all he loved drawing and painting.

After retiring from Inland at age 57 he dedicated himself to being a full time artist. His favorite subjects were scenes of the lake and dunes, the houses, barns, fields and woods of his beloved Northwest Indiana home.

A memorial service will be held at Marquette Park Methodist Church at noon on Saturday, February 2, 2013.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Arc of NW Indiana., 2650 W. 35th Ave., Gary, IN 46408.

Posted 1/14/2013