Silas Alvin Wilson Obituary (2021)

Silas Alvin Wilson, Jr., 65, of Leesburg, VA, passed away suddenly on April 15, 2021 in Leesburg, VA. He was born in Clifton Forge, VA and graduated from Alleghany Regional High School. He earned a BA degree in Economics at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. After college Alvin worked as a Software Developer for 40 years, recently retiring. He enjoyed hiking, fencing, designing and playing board games with family and friends, and was an avid baker in his later years. Alvin had two children, Caroline (Betsy) and Benjamin. He was married to Rosalyn Wilson for 36 years. He has two younger brothers, Ronald and Keith. He was preceded in death by his father Silas A. Wilson, Sr., and his mother Caroline D. Wilson passed away two weeks after he did. He was loved and will be remembered by his mother- and father-in law, many brothers- and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, cousins and friends. Alvin passed his love of marching band on to both of his kids - he had played the trombone in his high school marching band. As a member of the Dominion Marching Band Pit Crew he hauled band equipment and drove the band instrument trailer to many marching band festivals and to Disney World. When Betsy went to Elon University in North Carolina and joined the marching band there he often traveled to watch her perform. Once the kids graduated, Alvin continued to enjoy DCI marching band performances with his kids. Alvin loved the outdoors and would often go hiking with Ben or for long walks in local parks and neighborhoods. When Betsy and Ben were younger he was very involved in both the Boy Scout and Girl Scout programs. He was so involved with the Girl Scout program that he became an Adult Girl Scout and Trainer. He enjoyed camping and canoeing with the Scouts. He also had an interest in old battlefields and their history and visited them whenever he was traveling. After retirement he enjoyed working on projects in the yard with Ben, both for functional purposes and for exercise. After retirement Alvin continued working with computers and programming after his retirement. He would often work with Ben on different programming problems and programmed online games as a hobby. Alvin was an avid card and board game player. For many years, He would get together with his kids and their friends for a new year's eve celebration that involved playing games until the new year. He especially liked historic strategy games, and was thinking about creating a board game of his own. Alvin also had an interest in classic films of all types, and attended several movie festivals and showings with Betsy throughout the years. His favorite types of movies were westerns and sci-fi films. He read a wide variety of different genres of books, especially historical accounts, as well as fiction. A combined memorial service and funeral service for Alvin and his mother Caroline D. Wilson, who passed away April 29th, was held on Friday, May 7, 2021 in Clifton Forge. The family suggests memorial tributes take the form of contributions to Douthat State Park or the Virginia State Park System.