Life

William Croft Wilson (May 31, 1931 – November 6, 1963) was an American

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

minister, and the namesake of Wilson Chapel at Central Congregational Church in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. He was born at Greenwich Hospital, the son of William Stavely Wilson and Winifred Graham Croft. His father was an executive at Janney, Montgomery and Scott. He attended

Choate School Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private high ...

, and performed at the Bushnell Memorial as a member of the Glee Club in 1950. He graduated from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

in 1954, and from

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

in 1957. He was ordained at Second Congregational Church in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

, and served as minister at Central Congregational Church from 1957 until his death in 1963. His death was due to problems with his heart, and he was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital by Dr.

Helen Taussig Helen Brooke Taussig (May 24, 1898 – May 20, 1986) was an American cardiologist, working in Baltimore and Boston, who founded the field of pediatric cardiology. She is credited with developing the concept for a procedure that would extend the l ...

Legacy

His father established the William Croft Wilson Memorial Award at the Greenwich Boys Club. The William C. Wilson Scholarship is now an endowed scholarship at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich. His family endowed the William C. Wilson Scholarship at Yale Divinity School for students preparing to be Christian ministers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, William Croft Haverford College alumni Yale Divinity School alumni 1931 births 1963 deaths American Congregationalist ministers 20th-century Congregationalist ministers