Lt. Commander Joseph A. Wilson

Lt. Commander Joseph A. Wilson, United States Navy, died Wednesday, October 22, 2014, at his home in Chesapeake, Virginia. He was 35 years old. He was born on November 29, 1978 in Havre, Montana to the late Joe Wilson and Joyce (Wilson) Robinson of Malta, Montana.

Joe was the Salutatorian of his graduating class of 1997 at Malta High School. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in History from Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. Immediately after graduating from MSU, he attended the United States Navy Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, FL. He was commissioned there in the fall of 2002. He completed primary and intermediate flight training in Pensacola at training squadron VT-4 in the fall of 2003, and received orders to complete flight training in the E-2C Hawkeye in Norfolk, VA. He received his aviation Wings of Gold in December of 2004 and his assignment to his first squadron, VAW-124, the Bear Aces. Joe embarked on his first deployment aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in the fall of 2005 and returned the spring of 2006. He was board selected by his peers and supervisors to become a Weapons and Tactics Instructor for the Hawkeye community and embarked on his second fleet tour in Norfolk from 2008-2010. He was hand selected to become the training officer for his former squadron, the Bear Aces, and returned as the senior junior officer and Weapons and Tactics instructor from 2010-2012. Joe departed the Bears in 2012 for the most prestigious junior officer job in the Hawkeye community as the community detailer in Millington, TN. There, he was responsible for the orders of every Hawkeye junior officer and department head. In 2013 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and received department head orders to VAW-125, the Tiger Tails, in the most advanced Hawkeye squadron with the new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.

He married his wife, Brooke, on October 10, 2008.

Among Joe's many accomplishments, the greatest of them all was his love and loyalty to his family and friends. He cherished his role as an uncle, a son, a husband, and a brother. He was deeply loved by all who knew him.

Joe was preceded in death by his father, Joseph Adam Wilson.

He is survived by his mother, Joyclyn Robinson, and seven brothers and sisters: Janas Strauser (Havre, MT), Jodee Lee (Malta, MT), Jerry Wilson (Malta, MT), Mechelle VanHoudt (Marysville, WA), Mark Huber (Bozeman, MT), Lara Poulton (Cut Bank, MT), and Debbie Freeman (Denver, CO), and his wife, Brooke Wilson (Chesapeake, VA).

Charitable contributions in Joe's name can be made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention http://www.afsp.org.

A memorial service will be held 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, October 29, 2014 at Dahl Funeral Chapel in Bozeman, Montana.