The hymn “I’ll Fly Away” concluded the memorial service in the Davidson, N.C. church as family members, friends and former teammates reflected upon the life of Arthur John Wilson III – “Jack” to all of us.
“Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away. To that home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away.”
Clif CleavelandThousands of people whose lives Jack influenced were unable to attend.
A remarkable sprinter and quarterback at his Raleigh, N.C., high school, Jack starred as both running back and defensive back at Duke University, graduating in 1961. Drafted by the Cleveland Browns, he chose instead to enter seminary at Duke, graduating into the Methodist ministry.
Assignments to a North Carolina parish and the Duke Chapel were followed by six years as an assistant chaplain at West Point during the height of the Vietnam War. He had great respect for the cadets, many of whom he advised; he revered the Cadet Prayer (www.usma.edu/chaplain/SitePages/Cadet Prayer/aspx). A two-year fellowship in pastoral counseling at St. Elizabeth’s Psychiatric Hospital in Washington, D.C., preceded his family’s move to Chattanooga in 1973.