John Henry Wilson Jr. went to be with the Lord on Aug.12, 2024 at the age of 91.
John was a resident of Granville County living in the Oak Hill community. He was born March 14, 1933. John is preceded by his parents John H Wilson Sr. and Mary Guerrant and his sister Mittie Currin. John is survived by his wife Rose, his daughter Karen Rose Strickland (Bruce), his son John Samuel Wilson (fiancée Beth) and his sister Elsie Jordan. The grandchildren include Karen's children, Brandon Strickland (Meghan) and Kristi Hendricks (Jon) and Sam's children, Christopher Wilson (Melissa), Amy Kish (Billy) and Benjamin Wilson (Kari). John has 10 great grandchildren. In order of birth, they are Ryan, Hailey, Kelly, Charlie, Elijah, Joshua, Hannah, Bradley, Liam and Theo.

The family will receive friends after the service in the fellowship hall at Mt. Creek Baptist Church following the service. A meal will be provided for all family and friends in attendance.

From starting out on a tobacco farm as the son of a sharecropper, to graduating from a rural small-town school as 1 of 15 in his class, to finding his way in the larger world; John always talked about the Stovall community he grew up in encouraging him and giving him wings to fly. Trading the childhood names Hot Patch and Junie Boy for Professor John Wilson, and then to Papa John as grandpa, he truly had a wonderful success story influencing the path of our family's future generations. Beside him every step of the way, was his beloved Rose. They proved to be an amazing team.
John and Rose were married on December 26,1954, (69 years). John graduated from Wake Forest University in May of 1955 with a degree in Biology and Chemistry. He served 4 years in the Army, initially stationed at Anniston, AL for Army Officers Candidate School and later Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD. Once discharged he attended NC State University in Raleigh, NC and earned a master's degree in plant pathology. After graduation he worked as a county agent in Troy, NC and then took on a research position at Virginia Carolina Chemical, now known as Mobil Chemical, in Ashland, VA. At Mobil John discovered the first soil contact nematicide named Mocap. After 10 years in Virginia, John accepted a position at NC State University as Pesticide Education Coordinator, where he worked for 24 years until retiring in 1996 as a full professor. John trained over fifteen thousand dealers, applicators and farmers on the appropriate use of pesticides in what he proudly referred to as "perhaps the best pesticide education program in the world." He authored over 50 publications and conducted training sessions at both the county, state and federal levels.
John loved the Lord, his family, friends, and people in general. With his career moves he served as a deacon at three different churches: Sunset Hills, Richmond, VA, First Baptist, Cary, NC and Mountain Creek, Oxford, NC. He taught Sunday school and took on the role of Sunday School Superintendent. John explained, "God has blessed my wife Rose and I, in many ways, especially with our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren." John made a lot of friends. "We had a lot of fine friends and neighbors and traveled far and near." They met some of their dearest friends, Rod and Mim Shaw, in Richmond, VA. The Shaws eventually left Richmond and moved home to Turner, Maine, but stayed in touch until they passed recently. No one was a stranger to John. Whether he was in Bojangles, a doctor's office, the hardware store, or on the sidewalks of Oxford, it was all too common for him to introduce himself, ask people where they were from, and rattle off the perfect joke to go along with what was being talked about. Rose and John often opened their home up to family and new friends in need.
After retiring from NC State University, John and Rose built a home near Oak Hill. There he started his second career as a historian and author. He penned seven books on Granville history and genealogy for the Wilsons and Guerrants. John's most well-known books are "Roaming Around Southern Granville County and Vicinity," "Roaming Around Northern Granville County," "Roaming Around Oxford and It's Roots," and "Worth Begging For and Bragging About." John gifted all rights to his books to the History Museum in Oxford. His series of books document the history of key local people, towns, places and events that helped shape our history. John spent years interviewing local folks to gather background information. He served as an advisor for the Granville Medical Center, Historical Society, and Museum.
Driving around near Stovall with his young grandson, John stopped at the old shack where he was born. Being a historian, he told his grandson, one day, when I am gone, they are going to put up a plaque, "Here is the birthplace of John Wilson, A Legend in His Time." His grandson quickly corrected. "John Wilson, A Legend in His Own Mind." He loved to repeat that story to others.
We love you dad, grandpa and great grandpa (Papa John), uncle, husband, and friend. Enjoy meeting your heavenly family and friends again and all those you wrote about.
Funeral service will be held at Mountain Creek Baptist Church, 2187 Mountain Creek Road, Oxford, NC 27565, on Friday, August 16th at 11:00 a.m.

The family would like to add that Rose will be returning to their homeplace after the service on Friday if anyone would like to stop by to visit.

Arrangements are by Sossamon Funeral Home of Oxford. Online condolences may be made at www.sossamonfuneralhome.com.