Obituary of Lyle Wilson

Lyle G Wilson of Alvadore passed away on February 2, 2016 at the age of 93 of age related causes. Lyle was born on March 21, 1922 in Long Beach, California. In 1936 he moved to the Cottage Grove area. After two years the family moved to the Crow area. He worked as Millwright for a local lumber mill. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing in his spare time. On December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor was attacked and he felt it his responsibility to help protect his country. On December 29, 1941 he enlisted in the Army and was trained as a tank gunner. Lyle was on a M4 Sherman tank in North Africa where they spent time in Spanish Morocco and Casablanca. He then was promoted to tank commander and his battalion was ordered to Italy. During the D Day invasion his company was ordered to cut off the enemy and clear the highway for other Allied units to take Rome. His tank and crew received multiple hits and many close calls from German snipers. In October 1945 he headed back home and returned to the Crow area. He worked at US Plywood and Cascade Handle before his family started Royal White Rabbitry and supplied grocery stores from Portland to Medford with rabbit fryers. He met his wife Virginia and they were married in October 1955. Virginia passed away in January 2013. Lyle worked as a carpenter and built custom homes. He later worked as a construction carpenter and helped on the Lane County Jail. He was Superintendent of the Wastewater project in Eugene. In retirement he was a Oregon Duck fan and enjoyed watching the games. He went on the Honor Flight to Washington DC. and got to enjoy many other benefits of being a WW2 Veteran. He is survived by a daughter Dianne Burian and her husband Randy of Springfield. A son David of Eugene. Granddaughter Shelby Christensen, her husband Kelly and great granddaughter Riley of Norfolk, Va. And granddaughter Dani Wilson of Eugene. Services will be held at Lane Memorial Gardens in Eugene Monday February 8th at 2pm. Arrangements entrusted to Lane Memorial Funeral Home. Please access the obituary and you are invited to sign the guestbook at musgroves.com