Frederick Herbert Wilson Jr.

“Rick” was born on August 22, 1926 in Pawtucket, RI to Bertha and Frederick Wilson. He grew up in Cranston, RI where he was a highly accomplished young sailor at the Edgewood Yacht Club. He enrolled at Brown University, but due to World War II, Rick’s college career was interrupted and he served in the United States Navy, receiving the World War II Victory Medal and the American Theatre Medal. He returned to Brown and in 1948 with his fellow skipper, Charlie Ill, won the National Intercollegiate Dinghy Championship and the Henry Morss Trophy in Annapolis, MD. He went on to become the Commodore of the Brown University Yacht Club and the President of the Inter-Collegiate Yacht Racing Association (now the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.) Later in 1976, he was inducted into the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Hall of Fame. An Economics major, Rick graduated from Brown in 1949 and began a long career as an investment broker, starting with Kidder Peabody in New York and moving with the company to Hagerstown, MD. His firm in Maryland eventually became Wells Fargo Advisors. After retirement, he and his wife moved to Orleans, MA, an area of Cape Cod he had visited since boyhood.

He married the late Jane Key from Dallas in 1958. During their 54 years of marriage, they enjoyed tennis, golf, sailing on their boats and traveling throughout the world, together and with friends. They frequented the British Isles and Western Europe but also loved Canada and traveled south, all the way to Cape Horn. He sailed in several Marion-Bermuda races with close family friends, and Bermuda became a favorite destination for both Rick and Janie.

Rick was an active member of the Orleans Coffee Club and the Orleans Rotary Club. He served as Treasurer of the Historical Society of Orleans and helped raise money for the restoration of the Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat 36500. He served many years in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and often used his own boat as an official patrol boat. Rick was a long-time member of the Orleans Yacht Club where he was an active racer and helped establish an adult learn-to- sail program. After the death of his wife, he moved to assisted living in Providence, RI in 2015. He was frequently treated at the nearby Miriam Hospital, the teaching hospital of his alma mater, Brown University.

He is predeceased by his wife, Jane and his sister, Bette Wilson Nickerson. He is survived by his three children, Cynthia Jane (Cindy) Wilson of Chicago, IL, Margaret (Peggy) Wilson Hersam of Darien, CT and John Wood (Woody) Wilson of Frederick, MD, as well as six grandchildren: Maggie, Tucker, Annie, Jack, Charlotte and Brady.

A celebration of his life will be held Friday, June 14th at 11:00AM at the Federated Church of Orleans, 162 Main Street East Orleans. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in his memory to: The Federated Church of Orleans, 162 Main Street, East Orleans, MA 02643, or the Brown University Medical Fund, Division of Advancement, Box 1893, Brown University, Providence RI 02912.

For online condolences please visit www.nickersonfunerals.com