John Dale Willson , January 05, 1940 — October 07, 2018

John Dale Willson, 78, of Burlington, died at 11:37 a.m. Sunday, October 7, 2018, in Burlington. Born January 5, 1940, in New York City, New York, he was the son of Fred Dale and Florence Alma White Willson. John grew up in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

He graduated from Whitefish Bay High School in Milwaukee. On May 27, 1961, he married Bonnie Jacoby in Saukville, Wisconsin. Bonnie passed on February 22, 2001, shy of their 40-year wedding anniversary.

In 1967, with one young daughter and another on the way, John and Bonnie followed her parents in moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado. There John became an avid outdoorsman, fisherman, and deer hunter. After 16 years, the family relocated for John’s work to the Portland, Oregon, area.

During a pre-move trip to Oregon, John discovered a then small suburb about 20 miles south of the city called Wilsonville. That is where he and Bonnie built a house and made a home. He stayed there 34 years and told everyone he met that Oregon is “the best kept secret on earth”.

John was a skilled mechanic but spent most of his career working as an outside salesman of bearings, belts, and power transmission products for the industrial manufacturing industry. He spent the last 16. 5 years of his career working for Applied Industrial Technologies in Clackamas, Oregon.

John retired in July 2005. In August of 2017, John moved to Burlington, Iowa, to live with his eldest daughter and be near his dozens of cousins in the area. Burlington is the hometown of his father, Fred.

John is survived by two daughters, Jodie Willson of Burlington, IA, and Julie (Jon) Paulsen of Oregon City, OR; two grandchildren, Charlie Paulsen of Oregon City, OR, and Claire Paulsen, of Rochester, NY; and two brothers, Bill (Shirley) Willson of Colorado Springs, CO, and Jim Willson, of Estacada, OR. Besides his wife, Bonnie, he was preceded in death by his parents. There will be no visitation or services at this time.

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