Obituary
Lillian May Wilson, born on July 8, 1933, to Wellman I. Hawkes and Evelyn (Hebb) Hawkes of Ipswich, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully at home at 92.
She married Cregg Wilson on November 8, 1952, in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and they were married until his death in 1992. Together, they had two sons, Richard and David.
Lillian was educated in Ipswich, where, as a first grader, she was recognized as a violin prodigy and invited to join the high school orchestra. She was assigned first chair and remained in that position through 12th grade. She later studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and graduated from Dean Junior College.
In 1967, Lillian became a real estate broker. In 1976, after returning to school following several years away, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Salem State College. With her husband, Cregg, she also sold antiques for more than 30 years and was well known within the East Coast antique dealer community.
Lillian was a long-standing member of both the Order of the Eastern Star in Ipswich, where she served as Past Matron, and the United Methodist Church in Ipswich, remaining active in each for more than 50 years before moving to South Carolina. She and Cregg enjoyed square dancing, which became an integral part of her family’s life over the years.
Lillian is survived by her son, David Wilson, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and Sweden; four grandchildren, Justin Wilson and his wife, Amy (Linder), of Spartanburg, South Carolina; Jeffrey Wilson and his wife, Ambra (Smith), of Mebane, North Carolina; Adam Wilson of Eskilstuna, Sweden; and Kristoffer Wilson of Umeå, Sweden; six great-grandchildren, Zachary Wilson, Alden Wilson, Eleanor Wilson, and Harper Wilson, all of South Carolina, and Cayden Wilson and Corbin Wilson of North Carolina; and her daughter-in-law, Dr. Lovetta Pugh Wilson, formerly of Scottsburg, Virginia, and now of Mebane, North Carolina.
She was predeceased by her husband, Cregg Wilson, in 1992, and her son, Richard Wilson of Virginia, in 2023.
