Harry Eugene Wilson Jr., Clemson graduate, to be buried in Fairfax Cemetery

Harry Eugene Wilson Jr. was remembered in the place where Fairfax families have long marked their own histories: Fairfax Cemetery, where a graveside service was scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Wilson, 87, died Thursday, May 13, 2026, at his home in Easley. He was born in Columbia to Harry Eugene Wilson Sr. and Louise Carter Wilson, and later built a life that moved across South Carolina but kept returning to church, family and the land.

A graduate of Beaufort High School and Clemson University, Wilson spent several years working with the United States Department of Agriculture and the Clemson University Extension Center. His professional life placed him squarely in the practical work of agriculture and rural development, and the obituary also noted his deep interest in tree farming and forestry.

That connection to the land fit the life he lived outside work. He was a member of Rock Springs Baptist Church in Easley and a past Mason in Ridgeland. He enjoyed socializing, never met a stranger, and carried himself in a way that left room for both conversation and community.

Wilson was married to Carolyn Waters Wilson for 61 years. He is survived by his wife, two sons, Harry Eugene “Gene” Wilson III of Central and Joseph Waters Wilson and his wife, Virginia, of Easley, and a grandson, Joshua Joseph Wilson.

For Allendale County, the burial site gives the notice an added weight. Fairfax was rechartered on May 16, 1898, and its origins trace to Owen’s Store and Bethlehem Baptist Church beside Fairfax Cemetery. Bethlehem Baptist Church was organized by 1854, relocated in 1914 and renamed First Baptist Church in 1944. Find a Grave lists 1,376 memorial records at Fairfax Cemetery, underscoring how many family lines and local stories rest there.

Wilson’s final resting place in Fairfax connects his Clemson education, his USDA and Extension work, his church life and his devotion to forestry to a cemetery that has long served as one of the county’s lasting landmarks.