Richard Wilson

Richard Wilson, 85, of Frankfort, a Kentucky journalist for nearly 40 years, died peacefully at his home on April 4, 2023. He was a reporter and bureau chief for the Louisville Courier-Journal for 32 years and previously a reporter for the former Lexington Leader and The State Journal of Frankfort. Upon his 1999 retirement from the Louisville newspaper, he was coordinator of a Frankfort-based state government internship for students attending Kentucky's independent colleges. During 2002-03, on leave from that position, he was interim director of the University of Kentucky's School of Journalism and Media. Wilson is survived by Deborah, his spouse of 58 years, of Frankfort; sons Peter, (Maia),of Frankfort, KY and granddaughter Isabella and grandsons, Gabriel and Jacy and Geoffrey (Laura), of Lexington, KY and granddaughters Ainsley and Ava. He is predeceased by his parents, Vernon and Peg Wilson, of Towanda, PA, a brother, Gerald, of York, PA, and a sister, Polly, of Selinsgrove, PA. Wilson was a native of Towanda, PA and a Towanda High School graduate. He also attended Morehead State University and graduated from the University of Kentucky. A member of both the UK and the Morehead alumni associations, he was also an Army veteran and graduate of the Army Information School and Army Reserve Officer Candidate School at Fort Chaffee, AR. He was a member of the South Frankfort Presbyterian Church, the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. During his years with The Courier-Journal Wilson worked in Louisville and in the newspaper's Frankfort and Lexington bureaus. He was primarily known for his statewide coverage of higher education, but he also frequently wrote about general breaking news, including criminal trials and politics. Perhaps his greatest tribute as a reporter came from the late Kentucky historian-laureate Dr. Thomas D. Clark, who once wrote that Wilson's byline atop education stories "came to imply that the report underneath was the distillation of serious investigation and penetrating analysis." During his undergraduate years in college he won four varsity letters in track and cross country at Morehead and was a reporter and editor of the Kentucky Kernel, UK's student daily newspaper. A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 from 3:00-5:00 pm at South Frankfort Presbyterian Church located at 224 Steele St., Frankfort, KY. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the South Frankfort Presbyterian Church Book of Remembrance and Bluegrass Care Navigators. Arrangements under the direction of Harrod Brothers Funeral Home & Crematory. Condolences may be shared via the online guestbook at www.harrodbrothers.com

Tributes

Richard Wilson

June 11, 1937 - April 4, 2023