Wilson, Aubrey

Aubrey Wilson was born in Henderson, Kentucky, on September 14, 1881, to W. S. Wilson and Samantha Wise Wilson. He attended the local public schools in Kentucky before studying theology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where he graduated in 1905. After moving west, he was ordained a minister of the Christian Church in California in 1906 and served congregations in San Francisco, Richmond, Clovis, and Selma.

While residing in Selma, Aubrey transitioned into mortuary science by working for undertaker J. M. Byrnes to learn the business thoroughly. He eventually became a licensed embalmer and opened his own fully equipped undertaking establishment in Kingsburg, complete with a chapel and an auto hearse. Married to Gladys M. Brown in San Francisco, with whom he had a daughter named Audra Nell, he remained an active, broad-minded citizen and respected business figure in Kingsburg.