Michael Lee Wilson was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma on November 10, 1946, and was born again when he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior as a preteen. He passed away on January 16, 2023, after a brief battle with heart disease.
Michael attended non-denominational Christian churches his entire life and had been a member of First Christian Church in Leesburg, Florida since 1986.
After graduating from college, he served in the Air Force from 1968 to 1972. Following a four-year courtship, he married Janet Arlene Graham in 1977, and they became an inseparable team from that day forward. They both worked in the family builder supply business in Oklahoma with Michael’s dad, mother and brother. in 1986, Michael and Janet moved to Florida, studied for and passed the CPA exam together, then operated their own accounting firm in Tavares, Florida until their retirement in 2006.
Through circumstances that Michael and Janet attribute solely to Divine Intervention, they had the privilege of writing four episodes of Chuck Norris’ CBS television series, Walker, Texas Ranger, from 1998 through 2001. They could never adequately express their gratitude to Gordon Dawson, Executive Producer, for mentoring them, to Mr. Norris for allowing faith-based content to be included in their episodes, or to Robert Fuller for accepting the role they wrote specifically for him.
Michael’s parents, Bill and Carol Wilson, pre-deceased him, as did his father-in-law and mother-in-law, L.B. and Maxine Graham. His relationship with Maxine was so close, they were often mistaken for mother and son.
Michael is survived by his wife of 45 years, Janet Wilson, of Leesburg, Florida, by his brother and sister-in-law, Keith and Storm Wilson, of Carrollton, Texas, and by his treasured friends Mike McCann, Debra Dewitt, Roland Maheu, and Marty and Deb Dunlap.
A private graveside memorial service will be held at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
In lieu of flowers, Janet asks that memorial gifts be made in Michael’s memory to Samaritan’s Purse, P.O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607, or online at www.samaritanspurse.org.
