Mark Maurice Wilson
1962-2025
It is with the deepest heartbreak that the wife and family announce the passing of Mark M. Wilson at the age of 62 after a very short battle with a virulent form of esophageal cancer.
Mark was the youngest of five children for Clyde S. Wilson and Betty Lou Davidson Wilson. He was the only child born a true mountaineer on August 28, 1962, and lived his entire life in the three counties of the Eastern Panhandle. As a small child in the idyllic town of Berkeley Springs he loved to be outdoors playing and riding his peddle firetruck for hours. Unlike other small boys his age, he had the uncanny ability to see detail and was able to sketch and draw with accuracy and imagination. His vivid imagination sometimes got him into trouble such as showing off in his new Superman costume and attempting to fly off the top bunk only to be met with a resounding thunk on top of the dresser. On a rainy day he would spend hours creating an entire town using his Johnny West, James Bond, G.I. Joes, horses, log cabin blocks and trains and then act out all the parts in the scenes he created. He was a sweet and creative little boy.
When his father accepted the Head Football Coach and Athletic Director position at Martinsburg High School, the family moved to Berkeley County where Mark started first grade at Rosemont Elementary. There were many happy years growing up in a pretty stone house with several walking blocks south to the elementary school and several blocks north to play at the beautiful War Memorial Park. The neighborhood was filled with children and Mark enjoyed playing backyard football, spotlight tag on bikes and hide and seek with his friends. He was mascot for the high school football team, loved his orange and black uniform and running onto the field with the team. As he grew, he won the punt, pass and kick competition for his age group several years running.
The summer before his eighth-grade year, his parents relocated to Morgan County to teach, coach and build their dream home in which to someday retire. Mark was taller than most boys his age, handsome and athletic so he quickly became the popular new kid in town. He made friends through sports and became a standout in football but also participated in basketball, track and golf. In high school he starred as the halfback on the team led by his father as Head Coach. They loved being with each other. With both parents working at the school and Mark being the only child left at home, the atmosphere was attentive and supportive for an adolescent, and he thrived. Mark not only enjoyed athletics, he participated in talent shows with his buddies as a boy band, school plays and was voted the Football Captain and Senior Class President.
After high school he attended Fairmont State for a semester but was homesick and transferred to Shepherd University for Spring Semester. He was much happier being around friends and family. As his college career continued, he like many young men that age, was having too much fun socializing and not enough time studying. He left college shortly before attaining his degree and accepted a position in Residential Life at Timber Ridge School for boys. Mark spent eight years at Timber Ridge and loved his colleagues and the comradery more than the work itself.
Near the end of Mark’s tenure at Timber Ridge, he was still running to Shepherdstown on weekends to have fun with friends. Fate stepped in and he met the love of his life. He became smitten with a beautiful brunette co-ed named Kim Krams. Their paths continued to cross and although Kim found the fun party boy a little obnoxious, Mark continued to pursue her. One night he joined a table of Kim and her friends at the Mecklenburg Inn. He quietly passed a note to Kim and smiled. The note said…I’m going to marry you one day! A few years had passed, and Kim graduated and pursued her career in social work. She later had a dream about Mark and told her roommate. As fate would have it, they ran into each other and began dating. Mark went to the Masters Golf Tournament with some buddies, and he shared with them that Kim was the one. They started happily dating exclusively and then Kim was in a serious auto accident. Mark immediately came to the hospital, then took her home to his parent’s house with a wired jaw and battered body to nurse her back to health. Mark soon called Kim’s stepdad and asked permission to marry her. They married a year later, became each other’s best friend and set about pursuing life’s adventures. Kim encouraged Mark to return to college, so he left Timber Ridge to finish his bachelor’s degree at Shepherd College with a focus on graphic design.
After completing college, he accepted a position at The Library Corporation, a library automation and technology company. Completely self-taught, Mark was successful in creating content, videos, graphics and website platforms in the early days of website development. At one point in time, he left the Library Corporation and went to work at Studio 105 in Shepherdstown doing website development. After a year Mark returned to The Library Corporation and worked there for a total of eleven years. The last almost nineteen years of his career was spent in a position with the IRS, Enterprise Computing Center. Using all the skills he had mastered through the years he became a systems administrator who utilized large software platforms to create process improvements and better communication. Mark received the IRS Commissioner’s award for outstanding performance which included a flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol. Mark was slated for retirement on May 15 and had so many plans to look forward to until he received a shocking medical diagnosis and passed three weeks later.
Mark and Kim loved to travel, enjoyed concerts and hanging out at home. Their adventures included trips to Italy, Hawaii, Mexico, Aruba, St. Lucia, Napa Valley, the Greenbrier, Hilton Head for golf, beautiful Atlantic beaches and an occasional mountain trip. Their love for music led them to pursue over 60 concerts together and with friends to include rock, alternative, rhythm and blues, folk, reggae and orchestra. One of Marks greatest claims to fame was being invited on stage during a performance at the 9:30 club. When they weren’t going to concerts, they enjoyed listening to their favorite play lists and spinning vinyl albums and CDs at home.
Mark had a bigger than life personality. He was also kind and thoughtful, creative and imaginative and leaves behind friends and family that adore him. Most importantly he leaves behind his great love and marriage of thirty-two years. Their vows were not just words but were lived each day. Mark and Kim loved each other passionately in health…and in sickness Kim was so kind and caring to his every need right up to his passing. Mark was a wonderful son, brother, uncle, husband and friend. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him.
Mark is preceded in death by his parents Clyde and Betty Lou Wilson, and his older brothers Paul and Mike.
He is survived by his wife Kim Krams Wilson, by siblings Tom and Katy (Sam), nephews Eric (Krista) and Ben, nieces Angela and Hannah (Ian) and grandnephew Colton and grandniece Kendall.
A Celebration of Life for Mark M. Wilson will be held at the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown, W.Va. on May 15, 2025, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. The service will begin at 11:15 followed by food and fellowship.
