Living

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• SSN issued: Texas, USA
• Occupation: Retired Railroad
• Residence: Charlton, Georgia, USA
• Social Security Number: 465-12-1255
• Residence: 1920, Folkston, Charlton, Georgia, USA
• Residence: 1930, Militia District 32, Charlton, Georgia, USA
• Military: 29 Jul 1940, Jacksonville, Duval, Florida, USA

Notes:

Died:
Lawrence J. Wildes Sr., 82, took part in 1937 Earhart search
Author: Kay Powell; Staff

While he participated in the massive naval search for missing pilot Amelia Earhart in 1937, Lawrence J. Wildes Sr. of Fayette County had no sense of the future impact of his mission.

"He was not aware he was a part of history because he wasn't aware of the part she'd play in history," said Mr. Wildes' daughter, Carolyn Cunningham of Mableton. "Later it hit him."

Mr. Wildes, 82, died Tuesday at Vencor Hospital Atlanta of complications from open heart surgery in 1998. The funeral is 11 a.m. today at H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill.

He joined the Navy in 1934 and was a fireman on the USS Lexington in July 1937 when Ms. Earhart disappeared on her attempt to fly around the world.

Ms. Earhart was last heard from on July 2, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a massive naval search that included the Lexington. Before the search was called off July 18, the Lexington crossed the equator and international dateline at their intersection, the first time that had been done in more than 100 years. Mr. Wildes had a certificate commemorating that July 14 event, said his wife, Edwina Wildes.

"He thinks she and that navigator were probably charting -- I don't mean they were spies -- maps for the United States," said Mrs. Wildes. The Lexington's charts of the area were used in World War II, his daughter said.

Mr. Wildes spent four years in the Navy. "He had kind of been rebellious toward someone in authority over him," said his daughter, and he was dishonorably discharged. But in 1940, he enlisted in the Army, fought in Europe in World War II and received five medals. One was the Good Conduct Medal and another was the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver service star for his participation in five campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge and the Normandy invasion, she said.

The war made him an inventor. "It was just so hard for the soldiers to get shells extracted and keep the machine guns going," said his daughter. "He invented a device to put in the barrel and get it out real quick and keep going."

Working for Atlantic Coastline Railroad, now CSX, after the war, he moved to East Point in 1968. He specialized in timber inspection and treating railroad ties. Ties had to be air dried before they were preserved with creosote. Mr. Wildes devised a drying shed to improve the process, and it gained widespread use, said Mrs. Cunningham.

Survivors other than his wife and daughter include a son, Lawrence J. Wildes Jr. of College Park; a sister, Aderine Reynolds of St. Marys; and three grandchildren.

Copyright 1999 The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution

Lawrence married Edwina Cox on 17 Jun 1948 in Folkston, Charlton, Georgia, USA. Edwina was born on 7 Oct 1920 in Dunwoody, De Kalb, Georgia, USA; died on 22 Jan 2012 in Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, USA; was buried in College Park Cemetery, College Park, Clayton, Georgia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Retired Teacher

Notes:

Died:
Edwina Cox WILDES: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA) - Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Deceased Name: Edwina Cox WILDES

Edwina Cox Wildes, 91, went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Jan. 22, 2012.

She was born on Oct. 7, 1920 in Dunwoody to J.A.E. and Lola Allen Cox. Mrs. Wildes moved to Cedar Grove, then to Hazlehurst, where she attended school from the second grade until the middle of her senior year in high school. Then she moved to Nahunta, where she graduated from high school. She attended Georgia State College for Women (GSCW) in Milledgeville for two years, then transferred to the University of Georgia. She graduated with a bachelor of science degree in Home Economics in 1941. Chosen Sponsor of the UGA Band, Mrs. Wildes also was a staff writer for The Red and Black campus newspaper. During World War II, she worked in the payroll department of the IBM section at the Augusta Arsenal. Later, she was employed in Pierce and Bacon Counties before becoming a Home Demonstration agent in Charlton County, where she married returning World War II veteran Lawrence James Wildes. They lived in Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida. For eight years, Mrs. Wildes was an editor for the University of Florida Agricultural Extension Service and the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station in Gainesville, where their two children were born, Mrs. John G. (Carolyn Wildes) Cunningham and Lawrence James Wildes, Jr. called Larry. Because of her husband's work with the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, now CSX, the family moved to Jacksonville and then to Fulton County, where the children graduated from high school. Mrs. Wildes was a member of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, where her parents were married in 1915. She enjoyed so much about life, especially visiting with family and friends. During her last few years, she resided at Golden Living Center Northside for which her family is grateful to the staff for all of their care and concern.

Mrs. Wildes is predeceased by not only her parents but also by her only and much-loved husband of 51 years, Lawrence James Wildes, Sr., who passed in 1999, and her brother Hayden Allen Cox, also 91 at his passing in 2008. Now she is reunited with all of them.

She will be buried beside her husband in the College Park Cemetery, where her parents also are buried.

In addition to her children, she is survived by her Cunningham grandchildren Cara Edwina, Anna Melvina and John Lawrence.

In lieu of flowers, her family requests donations to the First Baptist Church of Atlanta.

Preceded by her viewing at 10 a.m., a Celebration of Life service for Mrs. Wildes will be held Friday, Jan. 27, at 11 a.m. in the Worship Center of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, 4400 North Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30338. Dr. Scott Downing will officiate with Brenda Wilson, the church's meridian adult director, delivering her eulogy.

Copyright (c) 2012 The Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Edwina-Wildes&lc=4946&pid=155614812&uuid=d42a01bc-33b5-4e86-b31d-07359e9d8634&Affiliate=atlanta&PersonID=155614812&FHID=4904

Other Events and Attributes:

• Death Certificate No.: Certificate number: 17817.
• Residence: Charlton, Georgia, USA
• Residence: 1880, Traders Hill, Charlton, Georgia, USA
• Residence: 1880, Traders Hill, Charlton, Georgia, USA
• Residence: 1900, Satilla, Charlton, Georgia, USA
• Residence: 1910, Kingsland, Camden, Georgia, USA
• Residence: 1920, Folkston, Charlton, Georgia, USA
• Residence: 1930, Militia District 32, Charlton, Georgia, USA

James married Katie Sophrenia Altman on 3 Oct 1900 in Charlton, Georgia, USA. Katie was born on 6 May 1881 in Charlton, Georgia, USA; died on 31 Oct 1974 in Camden, Georgia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Death Certificate No.: Certificate number: 034106.
• Name: Kate Wildes
• Social Security Number: 260-74-3923
• Residence: 1930, Militia District 32, Charlton, Georgia, USA
• SSN issued: 1963, Georgia, USA
• Residence: 1974, Charlton, Georgia, USA
• Death: 31 Oct 1974, Folkston, Charlton, Georgia, USA