Earlier today (Friday, October 29), Earl Wilson Jr., founder and president emeritus of the Gateway Classic Sports Foundation, passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 78.
Earl Wilson Jr. was born in St. Louis, Missouri and was a graduate of Vashon High School and Lincoln University, where he was an active alumnus.
Mr. Wilson served the IBM Corporation for 30 years and retired as Vice President of Marketing.
In 1994, he founded the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation, establishing full four-year scholarships for African American youth to attend historically black colleges and universities. Through the foundation’s efforts more than $2.6 million in scholarship funds were raised to send more than a hundred students to college over the course of the organization’s 16 year history.
Mr. Wilson was instrumental in the construction of the Gateway Classic building and in 2002 he opened the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation doors to serve the St. Louis community.
In 2010, the building was renamed the Earl Wilson Jr. Gateway Classic Building.
Mr. Wilson is survived by his wife, Billie, his three daughters (Denise, Stacey and Kimberly) and his son, Richard.
The funeral for Mr. Wilson will take place on Saturday November 6 at St. Nicholas Catholic Church (701 N. 18th Street. St. Louis, MO 63103). Visitation will take place from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. with the funeral mass immediately following the visitation.
