Orville R. Wilson

Orville R. Wilson was born in Medford, Oregon, on November 16, 1910. After graduating from law school, he moved to Elko, Nevada, and in 1937 went into the practice of law with Milton Badt. He would spend his career in Elko, where he founded his own firm in 1945 - the practice that continues today as Wilson Barrows Salyer Jones. His son, Stewart R. Wilson, joined the firm in 1967, and his son-in-law, Richard G. Barrows, joined in 1973. Wilson had married Ann Hutchinson in 1938, and they raised three children: Stewart, Sally and Robert.

During World War II, Wilson applied to become a Resident Agent with the FBI and was assigned to bureaus in Montana, Seattle, and Tacoma, Washington, where he investigated espionage cases in California and the Northwest and kept suspects under surveillance. He resigned at the end of the war, eager to return to Elko and resume work as an attorney. In his profession he rose to serve as president of the Nevada State Bar Association, and in 1952 he was selected as a Republican delegate to the National Convention.

Beyond the law, Wilson was deeply woven into the life of his community. He was a member and one-time president of the Elko Rotary Club, helped found the Elko Men's Volleyball League and the Elko Little League Baseball Program, and joined a group of local businessmen who worked to bring a radio station to Elko. His final project brought the Johnny Appleseed Park to Elko, completed by community donations and volunteer labor in five days in May of 1993 and named 'Big Orv's Playground' in his honor. He died on September 17, 1996, after a lengthy illness.