Don Wilson of the Ventures has died

Question

Does Don Wilson of the Ventures, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, have a profile here? He was born about 1934 and died on 22 Jan 2022.

Don Wilson, the Ventures’ Co-Founder and Rhythm Guitarist, Dead at 88

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ventures

Answer 1

I want to start his profile, but there are no less than 34 people named "Don Wilson" on the 1940 US Census born between 1933 and 1935. I'll figure it out.

Comments

While The Ventures have a Wikipedia page, it doesn't appear that Don Wilson has his own. I also find little biographical information online. However, the website Sportskeeda states that he was born 10 Feb 1933, in Tacoma, Washington.

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https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wilson-90544

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Ancestry has several trees which trace Don's line back to Alfred Wilson (1806-1875). The chain seems to be:

Woodrow W. Wilson  (1913-1960)

Charles Jacob Wilson (1889-1947)

Charles Henry Wilson (1867-1889)

John J. Wilson (1837-1900)

Alfred Wilson (1896-1875) who has a connected Wikitree profile.

The documentation starts out strong but gets weaker as we move further back in time. I've got enough other rabbit holes I'm following right now so I'll let someone else verify the evidence before it gets posted as fact to Wikitree.

Answer 2

I was trying to see if other Ventures band members were already on WT. Mel Taylor, one of the drummers was not so I made a profile for him:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Taylor-84416

He was the drummer in 1968 so he is probably drumming on the Hawaii 5-0 theme song.

Turns out his brother was Larry Taylor, bass player for Canned Heat:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Taylor-84418

They will be connected by tomorrow.

Answer 3

Here is his Find a Grave entry:

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/236121146/don-wilson