William "Bert" Wilson

September 23, 1933 - April 25, 2016

William Albert (Bert) Wilson of Provo passed away peacefully on Monday, April 25, 2016. He was 82 years old. Bert was born in Tremonton, Utah on September 23, 1933 to loving parents, Bill and Lucile Wilson. Bill worked for many decades as section foreman for the Union Pacific Railroad. The family spent time in Utah and Montana before settling in Downey, Idaho. They were part of a large extended family centered in Marsh Valley, Idaho. Bert grew up in the “railroad house,” situated between the tracks and the state highway in Downey. He spent many hours of his youth roaming and hunting the marshes and surrounding hills. He also spent mornings and evenings milking cows, tending livestock, and changing the irrigation of the 80-acre family farm near town. As a boy he was a gifted musician and accomplished student who had a particular love of words and literature. After graduating from Downey High School, Bert was the first of his family to attend college when he enrolled in Brigham Young University in 1951, majoring in English. After attending college for two years, Bert served an LDS mission in Finland. Through that experience he gained a love for the Finnish people, culture and language. In Finland, Bert met the love of his life, the dark-eyed sister missionary Hannele Blomqvist. After their missions, Hannele enrolled at BYU, and the couple were soon married on May 31, 1957 in the Salt Lake LDS temple. During the next decade, Bert and Hannele lived in Utah, Indiana, and Finland. Bert taught English for a year at Bountiful High School before earning a Master of Arts in English from BYU and a PhD in Folklore from Indiana University. After spending many years on the faculty at BYU, Bert become Director of the Folklore program and archives at USU from 1978-1985. He then returned to BYU as the chair of the English Department from 1985-1991. He would then work for many years as the Director of the Redd Center for Western Studies at BYU. In 1990 he was named Humanities Professor of Folklore and Literature. He also taught for short periods at UCLA and the University of Oregon. Bert developed a distinguished national and international reputation as a folklorist. He has published dozens of articles and books in the areas of Finnish folklore and Mormon folklore, and he was Editor of the journal Western Folklore. He was elected a Fellow of the American Folklore Society and the Utah State Historical Society, and he served for many years as a member of the Utah Arts Council. He received the Utah Governor’s Award in the Arts in 1998, the Leonard J. Arrington Award by the Mormon History Association in 2002, and high honors from the Finnish government, the Finnish Literature Society and the Kalevala Society. In 1981 he gave the University Faculty Honor Lecture at USU, and in 1990 he was the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Scholar at BYU, the highest faculty award given by the university. He also gave the distinguished Arrington Lecture in 2007 at USU. These honors and many more were evidence of the renown he earned in his field of study. But Bert never stopped being the Downey kid who cleared weeds and repaired track with the section gang and who remembered huddling against the warmth of a milk cow to fight off the icy Marsh Valley dawn. He was as comfortable on horseback or in the back of a pickup truck as he was standing in the lecture hall or leaning over his writing pad in his scholarly study. In much of his work, Bert celebrated the hopes and dreams of common people, and he believed that the artistic expression of the simplest of men and women—people like his parents and extended family who he loved—were worthy of the same dignity and respect as were the fine arts. Always strong in his faith and his community, he sought to understand the stories of his people and why they told them. He and his students collected thousands of stories of the Three Nephites, of missionaries facing adversity in the field, and of temple workers aided by miraculous means. He saw those stories as a window to the soul of the teller. And those who read his work and listened to his lectures had a window to the glow of his loving heart. In addition to his scholarly activities, Bert was a kind and gifted teacher and a devoted mentor to young scholars. He took great joy in seeing his students gain success in their chosen fields. He was a man of letters, but his greatest professional legacy are the countless students who have been touched by him. His students value his professional guidance but cherish, most of all, his kindness and loyal friendship. All who knew him remember the twinkle in his eye and his ready wit. Bert was a loving husband and father and faithful member of his church. He has served in a variety of leadership positions in the church including High Priests Group Leader, Stake High Councilor, and Bishop. He was a faithful home teacher. He had a strong testimony of Christ and His gospel throughout his life. Bert and Hannele served an LDS mission together in 2001- 2002 in Finland. Bert was preceded in death by his parents, William L. Wilson and Lucile Green Wilson, by his brother Don (Irene) Wilson and sisters Althea (Lee) Orme, Marjorie (Rees) Baty, June (Ray) Walker, Vonda Wilson and Gloria (Merlin) Phillips. He is survived by his wife, Hannele, his four children, Laila (Brian) Anderson, Denise (Ralph) Jamsa, Sven Eric (Nancy) Wilson and Karl (Amy) Wilson, by his sister Margo (Pat) Murphey, and by sixteen grandchildren, three step-grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and three step-great-grandchildren. Funeral Services for Bert will be held Saturday, April 30th, at 11:00 am, at Rock Canyon Ward, 3050 Mojave Lane, Provo, Utah, where Visitations will be held Friday, April 29th, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, and prior to services on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 am. Interment in Provo City Cemetery, 610 South State Street, Provo, Utah.