| Summary: | Accountant and business executive John Ethelbert Wilson was born on December 9, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois, to Carrie Wilson and Leroy Wilson. Among members of Wilson's extended family were his uncle, Arthur Jewell Wilson, the first African American certified public accountant in Illinois and his grandmother, Dora McDermott, a building owner in Chicago's Bronzeville area, where Wilson grew up and attended Wendell Phillips Elementary and High School. In 1954, he received his B.S. degree from Northwestern University's School of Commerce. Following college, he served in the United States Navy from 1955 to 1957 and returned to Chicago to work for his uncle from 1957 to 1963. In 1960, Wilson married Velma Brown. In 1965, Wilson became a certified public accountant and in 1969, Capitol Food Industries, Incorporated's treasurer and Bates Packaging Company's controller. He became President of John E. Wilson Ltd., and assistant treasurer of the Public Building Commission of Chicago, Illinois.
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