Thank you so much for taking the time to visit this tribute to John Charles Wilson. As it was John’s wish that a funeral was not held after his passing, we are sharing this lasting online tribute in his honour, and we hope that you enjoy reading about John’s life and listening to a selection of music that he loved. A collection of sixty-eight photos have been shared to signify his sixty-eight year adventure through life, along with two poetry recital videos that his granddaughters have recorded.

To celebrate his memory, in lieu of flowers, we are hoping to raise much needed funds for the RNLI Lifeboat charity. The RNLI is a lifesaving organisation that John had a deep respect for, and it seems a fitting tribute to a man who loved life and helping others. He really enjoyed watching the boats at the Weymouth Lifeboat Station during his retirement. Any and all donations will help power RNLI lifesavers to the rescue, day and night, rain or shine. Your donations will help avert tragedies at sea and bring lifeboat crews safely home to their loved ones. 

As a family, we are so grateful to you for thinking of us and Dad at this difficult time.

A tribute to my Dad
Written by Jennifer Cole, John’s daughter.

My Dad, John Charles Wilson, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1954. He was so proud to be Scottish, and despite spending the majority of his adult life outside of Scotland, he carried his love for his home in his heart and in his voice, never losing his distinctive accent, no matter where his work, life and travels took him. 

During his life, Dad was a loving son to his mum, Barbara, who was always so proud of all he achieved. He was the older and only brother to his sister, Janette. He was a committed husband for forty-six years to his wife Yvonne and an inspirational father to me (Jennifer), father-in-law to Sam and an extremely proud grandfather to our children, Kaya, Anya and Joshua. His family circle was small, but he loved them all so much. It would be impossible to write about Dad’s family without mentioning how much he treasured the memories of his much loved mum and his Uncle Robert who both left us too soon, and before then his 'Big Gran' Janet and his Grandfather John Thom who Dad always enjoyed sharing memories of. His Grandad had a role during the war of driving ammunition trains from London to Edinburgh, but he would unofficially often help army soldiers who had returned home. They would often share a foreign coin with him from where they had been as a token of thanks. Dad was given the old tobacco tin of coins and notes, and surely there were some sparks of inspiration to be curious of the world from within that tin to Dad.

As a child and even as an adult, Dad loved to read. He once read all the books in his school library, prompting his school to realise they had to go out and buy more! He was a keen cyclist and would often cycle the route between Glasgow and Edinburgh just for fun and was a member of the Velo Sportiv Cycling Club in Leith. When he was just 12 or 13 years old, he would regularly cycle 70 mile return trips solo, loving the scenery and freedom.

Dad joined the Royal Scots Greys that later became known as the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards at the age of 15 and his initial military career spanned twenty-five years and took him around the UK, to North and South America, Mexico, El Salvador, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, six tours in Northern Ireland and around Europe, including Belgium, Denmark and Norway, with many years stationed in North Germany. He joined as a trooper and was in a Cavalry regiment and when he retired from the army in 1994, he had reached Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2). Some of my notable memories of his army stories are of the time he caught a nurse shark in Belize and traded it for a bottle of whiskey from the locals. Or the time when he trained with the Alpini in Italy in Aosta, climbing Mount Blanc in the process. He learned how to ski with the military and became a ski instructor. His friends always enjoyed hearing about his daring feats, including the risky chip shop run across the Northern Ireland border during the troubles.  

There will always be the stories that he did not tell. There will have been times in his career when he had to be brave, quick thinking, and he will have faced challenges that we could not imagine. He did it out of loyalty to Queen and Country, and we are proud and thankful for his selfless service. One of the highlights of Dad's early career was escorting the Queen's Carriage in 1977 as part of the Silver Jubilee. Prior to that, he had also escorted the Sword of State to Parliament which is kept in Edinburgh Castle. He also spent time working with the Queen's Own Yeomanry and worked closely with the previous Duke of Westminster.

For nine years, Dad had a particularly special companion, our Doberman, Jager. Dad chose the name as it meant Hunter in German. As a pup, Jager could fit into the palm of his hand, but soon grew to be tall enough to put his front legs on Dad's shoulders, even though he was over 6ft tall. Many happy years were spent out walking and running with Jager, and he was a familiar face around the army barracks as Dad would sometimes take him to work with him.

The army opened many opportunities to the young 15-year-old lad who signed up not knowing what the future held, and those opportunities have gone on to open doors for my life as his daughter, enabling me to go to university and embark on an international career in education and then in turn the lives of his grandchildren. We owe so much to Dad’s hard work.

At the age of 21 John met the lasting love of his life, my mum Yvonne, when they were both serving in the military in Dorset. Yvonne joined him on his adventure, and they got married in Edinburgh in September 1976. Married for 46 years, their marriage saw them move many times following John's career before they finally settled in Wiltshire. During their marriage, they went on a great deal of international adventures, visiting the USA, Canada, China, Alaska, Vietnam, France, Cyprus, Mauritius, Australia, Iceland, Mexico, and Thailand. For their 25th silver wedding anniversary, they travelled to California and for their 30th wedding anniversary, they travelled on the Rocky Mountaineer from Jasper to Vancouver. After his much loved Uncle Robert passed away, they went to China to Xian to the Terracotta Warriors as it had always been a dream of Robert to go. They also globe trotted to join me on my work travels to France, Kenya, Egypt and Brunei. In Kenya, Dad rode on horseback with Sam and I at the foothills of Mount Kenya amongst giraffes and zebra. He loved an adventure. John and Yvonne also enjoyed trips within the UK and to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. He particularly enjoyed his trips to Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia. An especially treasured family travel experience was with his granddaughters to celebrate Yvonne's 60th birthday in Lapland at Christmas. John humoured the idea of the trip but hadn't thought it would be his sort of thing, but to everyone's delight, he loved it and got caught up in the magic of Santa, the wonder of the Arctic Circle, exhilarating reindeer rides and huskies. It was an extraordinary trip which will leave his beloved granddaughters Kaya and Anya memories to last a lifetime.

John's 'second' military career was at the Ministry of Defence based in Bristol, Abbey Wood where he was highly regarded as a Health and Safety Expert. He was extremely proud of the facilities and community and one of his big successes was in organising Families Days which allowed the families of personnel to get an insight into the important work of the MOD. His granddaughters loved the experiences of visiting Grandad's work and especially doing Science experiments. John was a man of integrity, and he believed strongly that people should be given their opportunities in life based on their merits, and not who they happened to know. Respect was important to Dad, and visiting his workplace always left a strong sense of the mutual respect that Dad had for his colleagues and that they had for him. 

His former boss, Alison recently shared with me that Dad had a natural ability to make people feel valued and knew how to put people at ease. He was adept at taking a problem and then would research it to provide a solution. He spent many hours with people listening to their health and safety issue and helping them to overcome the problem, and he was robust and stood his ground where necessary to uphold regulations or to ensure compliance, but he never lost the human factor and always explained his rationale regarding decisions and when applying process. He epitomised a Civil Service Professional and operated with the upmost integrity. He was a dear friend to many of his colleagues, especially his managers Alison and Sally, and his team Ross, Sue and Paul. They especially loved when he would bring supplies to work of Scottish shortbread to lift everyone’s spirits. Before he became ill, Dad was extremely proud when he learnt that Ross, who he had mentored for many years, was recognised in the New Year Honours List to be awarded the British Empire Medal by King Charles for her work in promoting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. Dad loved being able to guide others to achieve and took great pride in the successes of others. 

Alison also shared that Dad was a pivotal member of the team during the Covid pandemic prior to his retirement, and he ensured the site implemented social distancing measures, he found ways to obtain stocks of hand sanitiser which were in short supply, and he provided advice and guidance to seniors and staff. He worked with Public Health England and the NHS to ensure the site was operating as per the guidance, and he was a rock during a really difficult time, without him in the mix things would have played out very differently, and his team will always be grateful for his significant contribution during this period of uncertainty.

Dad was a fantastic grandfather and all three of his grandchildren were born in Bath and spent at least the first few weeks of their lives in his home. His grandson Joshua, born at the height of the pandemic, brought a lot of personal joy to Dad during a difficult time in the world.

Dad loved cooking, reading, gardening, listening to the radio, and travel. He made the best kind of scotch broth that would be served to welcome guests to our home after long journeys. If you ever tasted one of his soups, you can know you were one of the family. All of his passions are shared by those who he leaves behind. During the pandemic, he spent many an hour teaching his granddaughters, Kaya and Anya to bake bread, cakes or cookies. He had his head in a book, or his Kindle every day. He spent many hours in the kitchen with his son-in-law Sam, teaching him his tricks for the perfect gravy and roast dinner. Dad definitely enjoyed having his own sous-chef to train up, and then they would enjoy watching an action movie together whilst enjoying a goblet of wine! 

John will be remembered as an inspiring father. When I was younger and finding it hard to learn to spell and read, he patiently helped. I remember him being proud of me reading, and it spurred me on to read and read and read. It can't be a coincidence that I became an English teacher with a strong desire to instil a love of reading. My desire to travel is rooted in his adventures. I remember when I finally got to snorkel with nurse sharks in Belize and stood on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco that I felt there was a full circle, and I was walking in his steps. He was so proud when I graduated from University, when we went to Buckingham Palace for a Garden Party for my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and when he accompanied me down the aisle on my wedding day. I am so grateful we got to celebrate those occasions together. He was always available to put up a picture on the wall or do something handy around the house. Whenever he would come down to our house, Pebbles Cottage, he would often be reminded to remember to bring his toolbox.

When asked to reflect on his life after the birth of his first grandchild, Kaya, he felt the biggest changes he had seen in the world were the ease of international travel, the entry to space and the changes in communication and computers. During his life, he watched Man walking on the Moon on TV, lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of JFK. He was on a bus to have his tea at Gran's when England won the World Cup (when he was 19) and the bus stopped in the street because everyone was wild with excitement. He reflected on different military crises and told me about the close colleagues he knew who never made it back from the Gulf War.

Dad's retirement from a life of service came during the Covid pandemic. During that time, he nurtured his hobbies, enjoyed visits from his grandchildren and enjoyed regular trips down to Dorset with Yvonne for a walk along Weymouth Beach, enjoying the treat of fish and chips with the salty fresh air and watching the lifeboats at the busy Weymouth Lifeboat Station.

At the age of just 68, it is undeniable that John has been taken from us far too soon. It brings some comfort that our last memories of him before he became suddenly ill, are of his visit to Brunei. He enjoyed seeing the Proboscis monkeys and life along the jungle rivers of Temburong. He enjoyed walking through the rainforest looking at bugs and flowers and reminiscing of his time in South America as a young man. He spent many hours enjoying the company of his son-in-law Sam in the kitchen, making his grandson Joshua laugh, cuddling his granddaughter Anya and baking more than one batch of cookies with his granddaughter Kaya, who he was very proud to watch on stage in a production of the musical Annie in December. Along with Jenny and Yvonne, he was surrounded by his family who loved him so much.

When his granddaughter Kaya was born, he was asked for what his piece of wisdom for life would be. He said to, 'Try everything, learn as much as you can but have fun too. Keep a work-life balance. Too many people get this wrong and miss out on so much by concentrating on only one area of their life. Life isn't a rehearsal; it's a one time shot only so enjoy it whilst you can.' He also said, 'Try to travel and see how people live. This helps put your life into perspective and broadens your mind and horizons.' John lived by these values.

John Wilson was proud, brave, hard-working, committed and loyal. He was an everyday hero. As a family, we are incredibly proud that he made his feelings known about organ donation so that when we received a time sensitive call from a specialist hospital in Liverpool, we knew exactly what to do and say despite our grief. Several people will have received life enhancing calls with good news because he gave the gift of sight. We hope it might inspire others to have the same confident conversation with their loved ones…

We will always wish we had more time with you Dad, but you very much live on in the example you set for us. This chapter of your extraordinary life has so very sadly come to a close, but all your love and legacy of opportunity still lives on. You were our James Bond and our Crocodile Dundee. We are so grateful to you. For all you did and who you were. We will remember you in a thousand ways. From the smell of a strong cup of morning coffee to the mighty sounds of Scottish bagpipes. We will continue to support Scotland when the rugby is on for you. Thank you for everything.