Louise Mae Wilson

Louise Mae Potts Wilson, 99, of Montgomery, AL, passed peacefully into the presence of her Lord in the early morning hours of Saturday, February 20, 2021. She was born on May 11, 1921, to Ernest Lee Potts and his wife, Lela Elizabeth Owen Potts, in Springfield, MO. Ernest and Lela owned and operated a dairy farm and eventually had six children: Eileen, Louise, Elvin, Betty, Bonnie, and Leslie. Louise helped on the farm and attended a two room country schoolhouse during the Roaring Twenties. At ten she accepted the Lord’s offer of salvation and was baptized in a nearby creek in February! When she was about eleven, their world changed forever when her dad developed a brain tumor which paralyzed his whole left side. They lost their farm. Louise helped her older sister, Eileen, support their family through the Great Depression and into the years of World War II.

She met her future husband, Hubert Clyde Wilson, as he was training to be an Army medic at O’Reilly Hospital in Springfield. He carried her picture through the jungles of New Guinea and the Philippines. They corresponded throughout the war and married in November of 1945. Clyde entered the University of Illinois on the GI bill and graduated with a Masters. Daughter, Diana Lee, was born to them there.

Clyde accepted a teaching position at Montevallo College for Women, and they moved to Alabama, grateful to leave the snow in Illinois. Their son, Byron Clyde, was born there. Soon, Clyde found work in Montgomery. Louise joined Highland Gardens Baptist Church and served as a young married women’s teacher for the next eight years while raising her children. In the early sixties, the family moved to Nashville, TN, where she studied art at Watkins Institute and at the local branch of the University of Tennessee. She became an accomplished artist with an ability to do portraits. During the over forty years she spent in Nashville, she taught youth at Nolensville Road Baptist Church and worked in the large bus ministry during the seventies at Park Avenue Baptist Church. Eventually, the congregation started producing musical dramas and passion plays which drew people from all over middle Tennessee. Louise designed the scenery and costumes for nearly twenty plays. She crafted twenty-two six foot banners to serve in the finales. Diana and Byron grew up, went to college, and married. They produced seven grandchildren for Clyde and Louise: Wes, Travis, Lisa, Matthew, Rachael, Daniel, and Joseph. They provided a home and cared for Clyde’s parents, Paschal and Edyth Wilson. The Parthenon in Nashville invited Louise to present a one-man show. Later, several of her paintings were featured at different times in the art section of the Nashville paper. She won numerous awards at the Nashville fair and sold quick portrait sketches to patrons. Clyde retired, and Louise continued developing her gift for art and serving her Lord into her eighties. When she developed cancer and Clyde needed heart surgery, they decided to move to Montgomery, Alabama and built an apartment onto daughter, Diana’s, house. They enjoyed landscaping Diana’s yard and getting to know their great-grandchildren: Samuel, Bekah, Bethany, Taylor, Jaycee, Elijah, Jeremiah, Julianna, Isaac, and Emma.

Clyde’s life ended three months before his ninetieth birthday. Louise worshipped and served at Eastmont Baptist Church. She saw Byron’s two grandchildren, Bodi and Charli, added to the family. She continued until her bodily strength ended after 99 years, 9 months, and 9 days. Nine is the number of completion and fulfillment and is a symbol of wisdom and good leadership.

Her parents, husband, four siblings, and a grandson preceeded her in death. She is survived by her daughter, Diana Wilson Norwood, and her son, Byron Clyde (Sandy) Wilson, her grandchildren, Wesley David (Stacie) Norwood, Travis Lee (Cheri) Norwood, Lisa Louise (Jerry) Toub, Rachael Wilson (Bob) Schwalenburg, Andrew Daniel Wilson, and Joseph Michael (Tiara) Wilson. She has twelve great-grandchildren and a host of nephews and nieces.

Visitation with her family begins at 10:00 on Thursday, February 25, 2021. Her funeral service will begin at 11:00. At her request, the saving message of the gospel will be preached and an invitation offered for attendees to accept the Lord, Jesus Christ, as savior and Lord. Contributions in her memory may be made to Highland Gardens Baptist Church, 2014 Johnson Street, Montgomery, AL, 36110 for a memorial plaque to be placed on one of their pews.