The McAllen Wind Ensemble website reads that the group was established in 1973 by local music supporters and “sparked by Bill Wilson’s inspiration from plaza bands in Mexico.” 

But who is Bill Wilson?

Bill Wilson was not a musician who wanted to start his own band. He was a man who saw a need and fulfilled it without fanfare. He was an Oklahoma native and led his high school band as a drum major. His commitment to the Presbyterian Church also took shape at a young age. 

Wilson earned a degree in petroleum geology from the University of Oklahoma. While at OU, he pole-vaulted his way to a co-championship of the Big Six Conference. After graduating, he joined the U.S. Navy, achieving the rank of lieutenant and served in World War II and the Korean Conflict. Working in the oilfields, he meat a fellow geologist, Mary Loreen Holland, and the couple would move to McAllen, where they raised five children. 

Wilson’s expertise as a geologist in using data and studies became essential for a group of investors in seeking the best places to drill for oil and gas. 

“I have memories of maps laid out on the table,” said his son, Will. “He would knock on ranchers’ doors. A big part of it was persuading them to let him drill. They trusted his integrity a thousand percent and came to trust his geological acumen, as well.”

Visionary In Business

Bill Wilson would become a community leader in McAllen and collaborated with other like-minded individuals to address key issues. 

One need Wilson and others saw was McAllen’s need for an upscale destination hotel. He partnered with two other businessmen to form the Fairway Land Company. It would lead to the development of the Fairway Motor Hotel on South 10th Street in the late 1950s.

“It was way out there at the time, mostly at my dad’s insistence because the airport was there,” said Wilson’s daughter, Wileen. “People could not understand why they would put something that far out of town.” 

Wilson and his partners also developed the Fairway Apartments across from the McAllen Country Club. An avid golfer, Wilson knew luxury apartments across from a golf course would be a hit. 

When Wileen, the oldest Wilson child, was in high school, Mary suffered a heart attack and passed away several months later. Friends later introduced the widowed father of five to Marion Greer, a widowed mother of three. They would eventually marry and a have a family with eight children. 

A Life Of Service & Faith 

Wilson’s faith remained a driving force in his life.

In 1985, he was elected moderator – the presiding officer at the national level for the Presbyterian Church – and on the first ballot over two ordained ministers. 

“He was known as a peacemaker,” Wileen said. “Even after his term ended, he was invited to speak around the world, particularly in churches that had some kind of internal struggle.” 

Wilson treasured his friendships with leading McAllen businessmen, including Glen Roney, Vernon Frank “Doc” Neuhaus, Jack Whetsel, Vannie Cook and Lloyd Bentsen. Whetsel, a childhood friend of Wilson’s from Oklahoma, was McAllen’s mayor from 1969 to 1977. 

Wilson’s accomplishments in business and in his church were many, but his children are perhaps most impressed by their father’s “breadth and depth of his public service,” Will said. 

The McAllen Town Band is just one of those accomplishments. Wilson loved Mexico and its plaza bands. He decided McAllen needed one, so he created it. Wilson gathered partners and musicians. The McAllen Town Band held its first rehearsal at McAllen High School in November 1973 and its first concert at Archer Park on March 31, 1974. 

Wilson never played in the band. He never tooted his own horn. He served his community faithfully and with great integrity. Wilson passed away in The Woodlands Sept. 2, 2019 at the age of 95. His legacy remains in his loving family, the church he faithfully served, the lands he developed, his record of community service and the music of the McAllen Wind Ensemble.