Farewell, Friend

Our condolences to the family and acquaintances of Colie Wilson, Jr., the co-founder of S&W Towing Services of GA. Wilson, 67, died on Monday, 5/17. Here's his obituary from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

As a young man, Colie Wilson Jr. spent many a day at local racetracks behind the wheel of his Ford truck or some roadster.

As a grandpa years later, he bought his 6-year-old grandson, Shane Sieg of Tucker, a go-kart to race. The youngster took to it and competed in a go-kart division that took him to events in Carnesville, Myrtle Beach and elsewhere. He won several divisional championships in races sanctioned by the World Karting Association.

Wherever he competed, grandma, grandpa and other relatives were in the stands cheering.

"He was very proud," said Joan Wilson, referring to her husband of 48 years. "We were at every single race. Even when {Mr. Wilson} was ill, we'd load him up and take him."

In the late 1990s, Mr. Wilson had heart surgery and in recent years had suffered two strokes. He also had vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia behind Alzheimer's disease.

On Monday, Colie Wilson Jr. of Decatur died from complications of various illnesses at Odyssey House Hospice. He was 67. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. today at Rehoboth Baptist Church in Tucker. A.S. Turner & Sons is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Wilson was born in the Pearidge community of Decatur. He attended Rehoboth Elementary and was graduated from Clarkston High. After various jobs in construction and other fields, he and his son-in-law Rod Sieg founded S&W Towing Services, a business that has operated since 1982 and has locations in Tucker and Atlanta.

Besides racing in his younger days, Mr. Wilson liked to hunt and restore old cars. He had been tinkering with a 1968 Roadrunner that he didn't get to complete. His son, Tony Wilson of McDonough finished restoration of the canary roadster earlier this year.

Mr. Wilson loved spending time with his family and cherished the fact that he had the opportunity to race and see his grandsons follow in his footsteps.

That would be brothers Shane Sieg, 27, and Ryan Sieg, 23, both of Tucker. Today, they make up Sieg Racing and compete in NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series.

On May 14, they competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Dover 200 in Delaware. Ryan started in 21st place and finished 9th; Shane started 27th place and finished in 33rd, according to CBSSports.com.

Regardless of how they fared, Mr. Wilson would have been proud, his son said.

"When you look at pictures of him at the racetrack with them taken over the years, you can see the pride," he said.

Additional survivors include two daughters, Susan Bates and Pam Sieg, both of Decatur; four sisters, Sarah Pumo of Clarkston; Jeannette Martin of Snellville; Chee Chee Shulenberger of Decatur and Mary Godwin of Cumming; a brother, Henry H. Wilsonof Decatur; and six grandchildren.