Robert M. Wilson Jr., founder and chairman of Little Rock, Ark.-based law firm Wilson & Associates PLLC, has passed away following a two-year battle with cancer. He was 60 years old.
Wilson was born in Little Rock and educated at the University of Arkansas, where he received his B.A. in 1974 and his law degree in 1977. During his college years, he worked on the staff of Arkansas Sen. John McClellan in Washington, D.C., during the times of the Watergate Hearings. He began his private practice in 1978, which evolved over the years into Wilson & Associates.
Wilson was actively involved in the mortgage banking industry. He served as general counsel to the Arkansas Mortgage Bankers Association since 1984 and was a founding board member of the USFN, serving two terms as its original president and chairman of the board. He was also a fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Outside of his legal work, Wilson founded the Wilson History and Research Center, a Little Rock-based nonprofit that exhibits an extensive private collection of 20th century military headgear and paraphernalia. In connection with the center, Wilson co-authored the first two volumes of the book ‘Exotische,’ a series on rare and exotic headgear of the 20th century.
Wilson is survived by his children, Robert Wilson III and Jillian Wilson, his brother, Charles Arthur Wilson, his former wife and law partner, Jennifer Wilson-Harvey, and his stepmother, Jane McGehee Wilson.