Edward Wade WIlson, Jr.

More than a century after the Kansas City Fire Department was established, Edward Wade Wilson became its first African American chief. It capped a trailblazing career of nearly 46 years. Born in Parsons, Kansas, Wilson moved with his family to Kansas City during his elementary school years and attended R.T. Coles and Lincoln high schools. After graduating in 1943, he joined the fire department as a cadet. He left briefly -- to fight with the U.S. Army in Germany during World War II -- and returned to firefighting, rising from fire motor operator to captain by the time he was 23. No one that young had previously achieved that rank. Wilson became a battalion chief in 1960, a deputy chief in 1975, and set another, more important precedent with his appointment as chief in 1980. His tenure encompassed the Hyatt Regency skywalk collapse in 1981 and deaths of six firemen in a construction site explosion in 1988. Wilson retired from the department in 1989, going on to work as an insurance investigator and for The Kansas City Star. He passed away in October 2019.

Content Provided by: LINC