I know it's strange to mention this almost 4 years later, but I just got the sad news that former SIGNA member Ken Wilson had passed away back in spring of 2014. For many, many years he was a big donor of seeds to the annual SIGNA exchange.. I got to visit him & his garden in Olive Hill, Kentucky (located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains) in 2009 during iris bloom season. He took me hiking up into the hills where I quickly learned to spot wild irises, even ones not yet in bloom. He was notably impressed!
He raised many types of irises but he was especially fond of the locally native species. Iris cristata & verna occurred naturally on his property. He also had a huge collection... and I mean HUGE... of Iris virginica from various parts of western Kentucky. I was delighted to see a big clump of Iris cristata "Sam's Mini" growing in one of his beds, but he didn't know it by that name. He said he found it growing wild on his property a long time ago & had shared it with Sam Norris (of Owensboro, Kentucky). Sam in turn shared it with others, which must be how it got its name. Ken was never on the internet so our correspondence was always the old-fashioned way.. We exchanged many letters back then but eventually those tapered off. When I wrote to him last week I got a kind response from his brother informing me that Ken had passed away in 2014. I found the following obituary online & thought I should share it here. (See below.) Ken contributed SO MANY seeds to SIGNA that I imagine hundreds of his irises are growing all around the world by now. I like to think of him as a quiet giant of the SIGNA community. You may not have known his name, but you probably know & grow his irises. As fate would have it I'm spending a lot of time in Olive Hill nowadays & I'm so sad I won't get to catch up with Ken & his irises. I was really looking forward to reconnect with him again during this year's bloom season. I re-read all of his letters since finding out the sad news. He was truly passionate about collecting, cultivating, and studying irises... ALL kinds of irises. In his first letter he talks about how at age 6 that spark got lit with Iris cristata & Iris verna. And in other letters he talked about his adventures searching for wild irises throughout Kentucky, and the challenges of growing Louisianas in his mountain woodland location. He really loved the species but he was also keen on trying a bit of hybridizing between cristata and lacustris. I don't think he ever got lacustris to germinate but he tried several times from SIGNA seed. I wish I had got to visit him one more time before he passed. He was so thrilled to show off his garden. He was so proud of his irises!
Mr. Kenneth Ray Wilson, age 72, of Olive Hill, Kentucky, passed away Tuesday evening, April 29, 2014, at St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia.
He was born September 13, 1941, in Carter County, Kentucky, a son of the late Woodrow and Hazel Crank Wilson.
Kenneth was of the Christian faith and retired from the Carter County
Board of Education after teaching at Hitchins Elementary School for many
years. He enjoyed working in his garden and flowers and spending time
in the woods.
In addition to his parents, Kenneth was preceded in death by one brother, Harlan Wilson.
Kenneth is survived by two brothers and sisters-in-law, Dewey and Jean
Wilson of Olive Hill, Kentucky, and Larry and Wendy Wilson of
Gregoryville, Kentucky; one sister and brother-in-law, Mary Alice and
Wayne Clark of Gregoryville, Kentucky; and four nephews,
Nick Wilson, Mike Wilson, Link Wilson, and Kyle Wilson. He also leaves
many other family members and friends who will sadly miss him.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, May 2, 2014, at Globe
Funeral Chapel in Olive Hill, Kentucky, with Brother Lewis Davis and
Brother George Boggs officiating. Burial will follow in the Wilson
Cemetery at Gregoryville, Kentucky.
Friends may visit from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 1, 2014, and until the service hour on Friday at Globe Funeral Chapel, 17277 West US Highway 60, Olive Hill, Kentucky 41164.
Mike Wilson, Nick Wilson, Kyle Wilson, Phillip Plummer, Wayne Clark, and Tim Wilson will serve as pallbearers.
Visitation:
Thursday, May 1, 2014, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Funeral:
11 a.m. Friday, May 2, 2014
Interment:
Wilson Cemetery, Gregoryville, Kentucky
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