Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

March 5, 2022

Maurice Henry Wilson Jr., the only child of the late Maurice Henry Wilson Sr. and Mary Louise Polen Wilson, was born at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte on November 27, 1929. The total bill for ten days for mother and baby was $67.50.

Maurice died at the Levine and Dickson Hospice House at Southminster on March 5, 2022.

When Maurice was seven years old, his family moved to Cottage Place where he was enrolled at Eastover Elementary School. Soon after they moved, he began filling his wagon with ice and Pepsi Colas to sell to the construction workers building new homes in Eastover. He played in the woods that extended from his house to Middleton Drive, and in the creek where the grounds of the Mint Museum are now.

Maurice’s history of work as a youth mirrors the history of Charlotte. He carried the Charlotte Observer, sold men’s clothing in the basement of Belk’s Department Store on Tryon Street, sold the Saturday Evening Post door to door, assisted with bookkeeping at Charlotte Pump & Lighting, worked for Goode Construction Company doing errands and watering the fresh concrete at night when the Sears store on North Tryon was under construction. He worked in the basement of the old Carnegie Library uptown, helping Miss Ring shellac the spines of books where she had inked the Dewey Decimal System.

He was in Boy Scout Troop No. 3 at Little Church on the Lane. For years he served as an altar boy at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.

Maurice is a graduate of Central High School, class of ‘48, and UNC Chapel Hill. After a bout with mononucleosis interrupted his freshman year, he returned home, recovered, and worked briefly for Allison Erwin Company. He served in the US Army during the Korean War, returning to graduate from UNC in 1957. He was a business major and a member of Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. After graduation, he moved to Atlanta as a sales representative for Armstrong Cork Company. Later he was transferred to Dallas, Texas, where he met his future wife, Marilyn (Dede) Wilson. They were married in 1965. After several years in Dallas, they returned to Charlotte in 1967 to make it their permanent home.

In Charlotte, Maurice bought and managed Query, Spivey, McGee, a feed, seed and garden supply store at 600 South College Street. In 1984, when College Street was to be widened, making parking prohibitive, he sold the building and retired. Retirement did not last. In 1988, Maurice founded Sweet Charlotte, Ltd., a distributorship of gourmet frozen desserts to restaurants, hotels and caterers throughout the Piedmont.

At various times, Maurice was a golfer, a beekeeper, and a runner. He loved to spend weeks in the summer at Pawley’s Island. A member of Christ Episcopal Church, he sang in the Parish Choir and served as an usher.

Maurice was a quiet man with a tender disposition who was cherished by his family. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn Coco Wilson; two sons, Edward Maurice Wilson and his wife Victoria Shiroma Wilson, and David Ashton Wilson and his wife Kathleen Gray; three granddaughters, Waverly Naomi Wilson, Whitney Mika Wilson, and Westerly Mia Wilson. He was pre-deceased by his daughter, Amy Dodds Wilson, in 1988.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, March 10, 2022, at Southminster. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the American Red Cross or a recipient of the donor’s choice.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC; 28204 (704) 641-7606. Online condolences can be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.