Fred O. Wilson was one of five children born to Francis Marion (“Doc”) and Runa Wilson of Warrenton, Oregon in 1925. Fred joined the military right out of high school and saw duty with the U.S. Air Force in Europe in the closing days of World War II. Following his discharge, Wilson enrolled at the University of Oregon where he played on the Duck football team. He transferred to Lewis & Clark in the spring of 1948, where he went on to forty years as student, coach, faculty member, and administrator. As a student athlete, Fred earned letters in baseball, basketball, and football. He was an all conference infielder in baseball, a guard on the 1948-49 basketball team that won the school’s first ever Northwest Conference championship, and a first-team all-NWC defensive captain of the undefeated 1950 football team. In 1956, Fred was hired as Lewis & Clark’s head baseball and assistant football coach. Fred led the 1966-67 football team to a Northwest Conference title, and was honored as the NAIA District 2 Coach of the Year. He also coached the 1967 baseball team to a conference title. Fred also coached wrestling and golf, and served as athletic director at the College. Fred is a five-time inductee to the Lewis & Clark Sports Hall of Fame, once as an individual (1980), twice as a member of an inducted team (1993, 2001), once as an assistant coach (1995), and once as a head coach (2006). Wilson retired in 1987 and passed away in 2010.
From the guide to the The Fred O. Wilson Collection, 1940-2010, (Lewis & Clark College Special Collections and Archives)
