Wilson shares memories of city council, delivering mail

“I’m kinda surprised I’m still here,” said Kyle Wilson.  “I’m not supposed to be here now. ... They just found a whole bunch of brain tumors, but I’m doing the best I can.
“Whoever knows me knows that Jesus is my Savior,” Kyle said. “I pray to Him, and it helps. I believe with my heart there is a God, and He’s watching over me, and my time isn’t here yet. It’s probably pretty close.”
He described his minister, Chuck Todd at Grace Covenant Baptist Church, as an excellent minister, adding, “when he speaks to you, he is speaking out of his heart. He is not trying to impress anybody.”
Noting that a lot of people are praying for him, Kyle said “I’ve got a lot of friends and family, and I care for them all very deeply. ... Raymond and Jill Page are so special to me. They are such good people.”
Kyle agreed to share some memories of serving on the Hannibal City Council for the past 20 years and delivering mail for nearly 30 years. “I’d still be delivering except for this lung and brain cancer,” he said.
But first he complimented his doctors. “My doctor, Arif Bari, is a good doctor and has a great staff. Dr. (Joseph) Bean is also my doctor. I have a great deal of respect for both of them. I found out (I should) let the doctors do their work and shut up. When they are trying to tell you what’s wrong with you, don’t be asking stupid questions. I wanted to know everything that was going on. Then when they told me I had six months to maybe two years to live, I didn’t want to know that. They didn’t think I’d make it initially at the six months, and I’m right at the two years now.”
Is he in pain? “A little bit, but I can live with it. I’m trying to go as long as I can without taking pain medication. I’ve just got to try.”
Kyle’s family includes four sons, Chris, Eddie, Robie and Caleb. He has one daughter, Kara, and two stepdaughters, Trischia and Jordyn, whom he also raised, and nine grandchildren.
“I love them all,” Kyle said. “I’ve got great kids, great grandkids and a world-load of friends.”

Walked eight miles to deliver mail
Kyle said he learned a lot, delivering the mail. “I delivered all around town except Oakwood.” He had a downtown route for the last 14 years. “That was a lot of fun,” he said. “It was hard work at times. I used to be able to walk eight miles. Now I don’t think I could hardly walk 80 feet.”
On his mail route he was known for being friendly with everyone. “I run off the mouth half the time,” Kyle said. “I get along and talk to everybody. I had to be careful. I didn’t want to run late. But I never did. I had two postmasters, Bob Beckner and Bob Baker, and I worked with a lot of good, good people. It makes it easy when you do that.”
Kyle was first elected to the city council in November 1989, and has been re-elected each term since then. “I’ve served under four mayors,” he said, “John Yancey, Richard Schwartz, Bob Maloney and Roy Hark. All four were outstanding mayors. We disagreed a lot, but that’s normal. There’s no parties up there. Its non-partisan, and it makes for a better relationship. Everybody wants to help everybody else, because we live here.
“There’s been times it’s been rough and times it’s been pretty easy, but I’ve liked the councilmen I’ve served with.” He added that “as mayor, Roy (Hark) has done an excellent job. We don’t always agree,” but “he’s a good mayor, and he’s fair. ... Roy used to be my fire chief when I was chairman of the fire board, now he’s my mayor.”

His ‘funniest story’ involves Dexheimer
Kyle said one of the funniest stories in his life involved the city council and (the late) Councilman Jim Dexheimer, his lifelong friend. “We grew up together on South Side. He is in the same spot in his family I am, the third and last son with two younger sisters.”
During a council meeting, “we were having an argument, and Jim and I were throwing some pretty heated words at each other,” Kyle said.
Later, “the meeting was adjourned, and Jim called me over and asked ‘You going hunting this weekend?’ because we had planned to go hunting. He said he had to work, and I said we could go some other time.”
When they were walking out of the council chambers, “there’s probably 50 people standing round looking at us — they thought we were going to fight each other,” Kyle said. “Jim looked at them ‘Can we help you all?’ Someone said, ‘we wonder when the fight’s going to start.’ Jim said, ‘What fight?’ and they said, ‘Uh, you two.’ We started laughing, and I said ‘Why would we fight, just ‘cause we argue. When we argue in there, that’s city business. When we walk through these doors, it’s over.”

Kyle ‘always
admired’ his brother, Kirk
“I’ve always admired Kirk,” Kyle said about his brother, who recently hosted a party for Kyle’s 58th birthday. “He’s always done things so easily,” Kyle said. “Kirk was the most valuable player in a national tournament when his team won a national championship. And he still has the longest home run at Clemens Field, when he was playing for the college. He uncorked one, and it hit the armory.
“Now Kirk is working with kids, and he enjoys doing that. People all the time ask me where he is, because they want to be coached by him.”
Their brother, Kim, passed away a year and a half ago from lupus, Kyle said. “Kim was one of the best athletes to come out of this town. He refused a contract with the Cardinals to play baseball.”
The Wilsons’ two sisters are Keri Carroll and Leann Wilson. Their mother, Charlene Majors, lives at Maple Lawn Nursing Home in Palmyra. Their dad, John Wayne Wilson, died in 2008.
Kyle’s best friends are men he played baseball with years ago. “I remember when the ball park (Clemens Field) was three ball fields and the place used to be packed every night,” Kyle said, adding he is glad to see Clemens Field renovated with a new ball team playing there.
“My best friends played there, and we’d have a great time,” Kyle added. “Eddie Givan is my best friend, and Michael Fohey one of my best friends. I’ve got a son (Edward Michael) named after them. “To me, Mike’s the best athlete to ever come out of Hannibal,” Kyle said. “He could do so many things so well.”
Eddie now coaches ball players, like Kirk does, Kyle said, and Eddie still works at the post office, where they worked together.
More close friends whom he played ball with include Craig Elsner, Bruce Sims, Bob Hardin, Roger Walton and Paul Johns. “Roger ‘Waldo’ Walton is an especially close friend,” Kyle said. “His uncle Lloyd ‘Rags’ Ragland would coach us.” Kyle usually played right field or designated hitter, because he had a knee injury as a child, and his knee hurts when he runs.
Kyle explained how he was nicknamed “Goat.” He, Bob Hardin and Craig Elsner went to a ball game in St. Louis in about 1968. It was a double-header, so they left early without eating. Then he and Bob realized they had no money, so Craig had to buy tickets for all three. He got box seats, leaving no money for food, “and we were starving,” Kyle said. “Bob found a quarter and bought a bag of peanuts. Craig and Bob shared the peanuts, and I ate the shells in the bag. I was hungry. And that’s how I got my nickname, ‘Goat.’”
After the friends played baseball, Kyle said, “we played fast pitch softball for Milt’s Buds. It was a lot of fun. We played in a lot of big tournaments. We were playing with men, (including) Gary McCarty, Dane Rouse, Donnie Ragland and Bobby Mauck.”
Years later, Kyle’s four sons all played ball, although, he said, “I never pushed them.”