Maryalice Wilson

Maryalice was born in Hollywood, California. She attended grade school in Los Angeles and graduated from Glendale High School. She received a business degree at Woodbury College, which helped her get a job as an executive secretary at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, CA in the 1940’s. She was married to Robert “Bob” Wilson in 1939. While living in Glendale they welcomed daughter Carol, then son Randall. Their daughter Sherrie arrived after a move to Orange County, CA.

In 1948 they made a great decision to move to Costa Mesa, CA. Maryalice helped her husband, Bob, when he became president of the Costa Mesa Home Rule Committee. They circulated petitions, with others, to set up a vote to incorporate the city. Their business, The Awning Man, was opened in 1955. While running the business together, Bob started getting involved in politics. He served on the Costa Mesa Planning Commission for multiple terms, then on the City Council where he served three terms as mayor of Costa Mesa.

Maryalice was very involved in her children’s school’s PTA. She also attended all the school board meetings to make sure the board members (all men) made good decisions for the district’s students. She later ran for the school board. She was a proud member of The Native Daughters of the Golden West and served as an officer. When the new Costa Mesa Hospital opened, she became a volunteer. As a lifelong Republican, she was a member of the Republican Women of Costa Mesa. In the 1950’s she became a member of the first Baptist Church of Costa Mesa and later attended Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa.

As a representative for the city of Costa Mesa, her husband attended the California, National and International League of Cities conferences. Since Maryalice paid her own way, she was able to go along. They would take tours of the areas after the conferences ended, seeing many parts of the world. Later after retirement from their business and politics, they travelled extensively, taking multiple cruises and tours. One of their favorite trips was to visit every baseball stadium in the US and Canada. The Anaheim Angels were their team and they were season ticket holders from the start for many years. Maryalice had a wonderful smile and a great sense of humor. She was a great gardener and blessed with a “green thumb”. In her middle years she played golf. Her beloved husband Bob passed away in 2004.

In her 100 years, she experienced so many wonderful events and witnessed many technological changes. She celebrated her 100th birthday in December at the Mesa Verde Country Club with all family members in attendance. Her family will miss her greatly, our matriarch is now with her Savior Jesus Christ and her husband. She is survived by her daughters Carol Wilt (Bob) of Cornville, AZ, Sherrie Makin (Claude) of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, and son, Randy (Annika) of Billings, MT. She is also survived by her 8 grandchildren: Eric Erwin, Marc Erwin, Andrew Wilt, Matthew Makin, Mike Makin, Lori Wilson Fitzpatrick, Bryan Wilson, Brad Wilson and 14 great grandchildren.