David Russell Wilson

David Russell Wilson

David Russell Wilson, 83, passed away peacefully on Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, surrounded by his family, from complications from multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer.

Dave was born in Missoula on June 14, 1938, the son of Thomas and Mildred Wilson. After graduating from Billings Senior High in 1958, he enlisted in the Army National Guard, where he trained at Fort Ord in Monterey Bay, California. After his service, he moved back to Billings, where he met his wife, Donna Lee Wilson. They married in 1964 and raised three daughters and have watched the family grow with six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

While raising his family, he spent the majority of his working life as a Door Technician, starting his own company, Automatic Doors of Montana, in 1996. Dave was widely known to be the best source of expert information about automatic doors. Dave spent much of his time at the grandkids’ baseball, football, wrestling matches and basketball games. Dave was most proud of his family and especially his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was an avid collector of anything to do with cars and 1950s culture. He loved to restore his beloved old cars back to original as much as possible (maybe with a little extra horsepower). He was a founding member of the Triers Club and belonged to The Roaring 20’s Car Club.

His beloved wife, Donna (Kipp) Wilson, passed away July 22, 2001. We are comforted in knowing that they are together again.

He is survived by his daughters, Lori (Brad) Tucker, Kristi (Patrick) Scott, Staci (Jake) West; his grandchildren, Kyle (Cathy), Kayla, Bailey (Kyle), Logan, Jessen, Lauren; and his great-grandchildren Mason, Alexis, Kason (Kyle’s) and Harper (Kayla’s).

In Dave’s honor, please wear your favorite NFL team or other sports team jersey to the memorial, as he was an avid Chicago Bears football fan. Dave also requested that all his friends who have a Classic or Hot-Rod drive it to the service for one last rod run.

At his request, cremation has taken place.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the charity of your choice.

A celebration of life will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21, at Faith Chapel, 517 Shiloh Road.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of David Russell Wilson, please visit our floral store.