William "Bill" James Wilson Jr., a retired commercial artist and art director, died of cancer Dec. 25 at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The Catonsville resident was 87.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Walbrook, he was the son of William James Wilson Sr., a Westinghouse worker, and Mary Lelia Keatts a homemaker. He was a 1947 Polytechnic Institute graduate and served in the Seabees during the Korean War. He was stationed in French Morocco and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
He then earned a degree at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1957. He also studied at the Schuler School of Fine Arts.
He joined the old Baltimore News-Post and later worked for several advertising agencies as art director before starting his own agency, Wilson & Peck Advertising, with Bill Peck. The agency was located on 25th Street in Charles Village.
Family members said his agency created ad campaigns including the Harvey Wall Banker, an early ATM promotion. He made logos for Advanced Radiology, Maryland Zoo, Sinai Hospital and Becton Dickinson. He drew cartoons for the old Evening Sun, in which he illustrated articles for Gilbert Sandler's Baltimore Glimpses column. He retired in 1994.
He was a member and a past president of the Charcoal Club. He was a watercolorist and traveled to Europe annually with a painters' group they named the Aquanuts. They stayed in small towns and painted outdoors.
Mr. Wilson won awards for his watercolors, including a top prize in Plein Aire Easton's quick draw competition. He wrote two books on painting, including "The Building of Body & Soul," which he recently completed.
He attended the Church of the Holy Apostles in Arbutus, where he was crucifer, senior and junior warden.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. John's Episcopal Church, 9120 Frederick Road in Ellicott City.
Survivors include two sons, William "Will" James Wilson III of San Francisco, Calif., and Jeffrey Clay Wilson of Catonsville; and a sister, Anna Lelia White of Ellicott City. His wife of more than 60 years, the former Clair "Bonnie" Evangeline Fix, died in 2010.