Auto collision teacher Jeff Wilson and his wife Amber stood right outside the Kingwood Park dugout on May 1. Their 12-year-old son Shiloh was inside wearing his baseball helmet and giving a pep talk to senior ace Aden Murray, whose arm was hurting in the team’s first-round playoff game against Brenham. 

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish this inning,” Murray told Shiloh, who was the team’s bat boy.

Shiloh wasn’t worried. “I guarantee you’ll get out of this inning in less than four pitches,” he told Murray. 

Four pitches later, Murray walked off the mound and looked straight at Shiloh, who was jumping up and down. “I told you so!” Shiloh shouted proudly.

Murray knows Shiloh’s ear-to-ear grin during that game will never be forgotten. Murray can also still hear Jeff and Amber shouting for every player on the team, arguably louder than any other parents in the stands.

Jeff, Amber and Shiloh Wilson died in the flash floods by the Guadalupe River on July 4. They had been camping near Kerrville for a youth rodeo event. A memorial service for the Wilsons will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at the Humble Civic Center. 

Shiloh, the 2024 Rookie Junior World Champion Rough Stock Saddle Bronc Champion, mostly talked baseball in the Kingwood Park dugout, but he also talked about his rodeo days once in a while. 

“It hits harder to me, because I promised Shiloh I’d make time to come watch him rodeo this summer,” Murray said. “Knowing he’s gone and that he and his family are in heaven right now, it’s hard to realize I’ll never be able to watch Shiloh ride. It sucks knowing that such a beautiful family has been taken away.”

Active members of Kingwood

The void of the Wilson three will be felt throughout the Kingwood community. Amber worked 27 years at Insperity, a company in Kingwood that provides human resources and other services to small and medium-sized businesses. Shiloh was a rising seventh grader at Creekwood Middle School.

At the final faculty meeting of the past school year in May, Wilson was recognized with teacher Kimberly Ackerman for 30 years in the district. The two became close friends over the years as they taught together at Humble High School and Kingwood Park. That day as they received their 30-year service pins, they joked with the faculty and hugged.

“If I’d known that was my last hug, I would have hugged him a little harder,” Ackerman said.

Wilson added joy, humor at work

Wilson was a fixture in the back row of the faculty meetings with his closest colleagues.

Former principal Lisa Drabing remembers the blue-collar comedy show Wilson performed with agriculture teacher Kevin McCarty one year during in-service meetings. Wilson and McCarty had the entire staff laughing.

“He just had this big personality and the ability to make people laugh,” Drabing said. 

McCarty and Wilson first formed their friendship in 2001 as teachers at Humble High School. When Kingwood Park opened in 2007, they both moved to the new school to build their own programs. Wilson spent so much time in the agriculture classroom helping McCarty, students often thought he was an ag teacher too. 

The two also found themselves in a little trouble with Kingwood Park’s first principal Larry Cooper when they were supposed to turn in an evaluation. They got a copy of one from a fellow colleague. Wilson and McCarty then both forgot to replace their colleague’s name with their own names when they turned it in. Cooper made sure the entire faculty knew what they had done.

“We were always horsing around and making jokes,” McCarty said.

Jokes often filled Wilson’s classroom as well. Students in room 1722 often started their class hearing funny stories from Wilson about his life – from his own days as a bull rider and world class saddle bronc champion to his stories about raising Shiloh.

Wilson made sure his classroom was never silent. He’d walk around his room helping students and joking with them. Students would often hear rock and country music coming from his office. 

Students found a home in Wilson’s classroom

Murray first signed up for what he thought would be an easy elective as a freshman. Soon, he never wanted to leave the safe haven Wilson created in Room 1722. Murray, like many others, signed up for Wilson’s classes every year – sometimes having Wilson more than once a day. He became a father figure to Murray, just like he had already become for so many others. 

“He was never there just to get the paycheck,” said Murray, who graduated in May and now works as an electrician. “He wanted to have a big impact on every single kid that was in his class. He wanted to make a big impact in their lives.”

Wilson did not only teach automotive lessons, but also life lessons. He taught his students not to judge, and showed them what it was to be a good friend.

“He was always willing to help you,” Drabing said. “He never said no. He was just that kind of a person. I knew it was a friendship that I could always count on.”

If Wilson’s colleagues ever needed help, especially with their cars, they knew who to call. Wilson and his students worked on two of architecture teacher Missi Taylor’s cars. 

Taylor would buy the materials needed and lunch for the students who worked on it, and Wilson’s classes would start fixing. 

During big projects, he’d walk around the room telling his students safety reminders, making kids laugh even when using a stern tone. “Don’t be stupid and burn your hand,” he’d remind those welding. Wearing the safety gear when painting was key “so you don’t get cancer,” he’d remind them.

“The kids knew that was a home out there for them and that it was a safe place,” Drabing said. “He had their best interests at heart, and he was going to provide them with an opportunity once they left Kingwood Park High School – something they could be successful at and that they could be employable.”

Absence already felt at Kingwood Park

Taylor reported back to her classroom, which is next door to 1722, on July 21. Tears surface each time she remembers he’s not returning.

“I don’t really want to walk past the door, but I have to,” Taylor said through tears. “I find myself looking in the window, looking for him. And I know he’s not there.”

The entire wing of the building will be different without Wilson’s presence. Taylor spoke to Shiloh and Jeff just two weeks into June. They caught up with each other and spoke about their summer plans, right outside their classrooms. McCarty will never forget playing catch with Shiloh in the hall when he was 5 years old. And Drabing remembers Wilson bringing baby Shiloh up to her office to visit on work days.

Proud dad

“He was so proud of that little guy,” Drabing said. “It was just fun watching him be a dad. He loved it.”

Ackerman said it felt as though she knew Shiloh before he was even born because Jeff talked non-stop about the little boy. His face would light up. He was 43 years old at the time, and he was also nervous.

“I’m going to be an old man when he graduates,” Wilson told Ackerman. 

“You’re going to be a great father,” she’d remind him. “It’s going to change your life.” 

After Shiloh was born, Wilson continued to share frequent stories about his son. The pride was evident every time he mentioned his son’s name. 

“Every time he’d talk about Shiloh, I’d say, ‘It changed your life, didn’t it?’” Ackerman said. “And he’d say, ‘You betcha!’”