Bob Wilson has resided in Traverse City just over a third of his 70 years, but his time here has been well spent.
Living her from age 10-18, he turned his life around from bad boy thanks to a history teacher's influence. Leaving town to join the Air Force after graduating from Traverse City Senior High School, he transformed into a family man, Air Force officer, engineer and teacher. Retiring and returning to town 14 years ago, Wilson immediately immersed himself in local history, continuing a passion for learning he picked up with postings around the nation and world.
"The thing I like best is to talk about history with people who have a history of their own, that makes it fun,” said Wilson, who has been married to his wife, Joy, for 51 years and has three children, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
"It's a treasure hunt and there's a lot of treasure in attics around here,” he added.
Recognizing Wilson for his commitment, passion, generosity and leadership, the Grand Traverse Pioneer and Historical Society named him as Historian of the Year. Wilson is past president of the society and has been active in it for 14 years, making contributions both tangible and intangible.
"His amount of time and effort has just been unlimited, that he's put into [the society] out of his own interest and the passion about the history,” said Ann Hoopfer, a lifetime member of the society. "There's been ups and downs for the society, but I'd say ever since the arrival of Bob Wilson, we've been on the high road.”
A huge contribution to the society has been Wilson's trilogy of historical books: Grand Traverse Legends. Outlining in prose, photos and documents three crucial periods of Traverse City history spanning 1838-1900 — The Early Years, The Formative Years and The Transition Years — Wilson has donated all proceeds of the book to the society. This has netted the society $10,000 since the first volume came out in 2004.
"He's just an extremely engaging and friendly person and he seems to have a knack about being able to chat with people and glean information from people within a short time,” Hoopfer noted. "It all goes back to the society's mission, which is to record, capture and ensure the history of this region.”
The historical society board of directors, of which Wilson is a member, selected him for the award while he was away on vacation.
"I'm very honored by this,” said Wilson, adding dryly: "I felt like eventually, maybe, because of the books but they did it while I was away and couldn't defend myself.”
Involved with every facet of the society's operation, Wilson is currently penning a script for a historical trolley tour of Traverse City. This tour is planned for this summer as both an outreach and fund-raising project, geared to both locals and tourists. Wilson also talks to schoolchildren about local history whenever he is invited to a classroom.
"Local history is not taught,” noted the Detroit native, adding of history in general: "It doesn't get the emphasis in school that it used to. There's been a lot of revisionist history and I think it's unfortunate; when you're my age, you have a context — I can look back over the last 50 years.”
The Grand Traverse Pioneer & Historical Society will honor Bob Wilson as Historian of the Year on Thursday, May 24, at 6:30 p.m. Advanced reservations are required to attend the banquet at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center on Sixth Street. For more information or to make a reservation, call the Grand Traverse Heritage Center at 995-0313. The program begins about 7:30 p.m. and the public is welcome