Issue link: https://fredparent.uberflip.com/i/200031
JOE WILSON: Entrepreneur, Former Councilman, Grandparent BY KERRY L. PINTO Joe Wilson has been the owner and chief executive officer of PermaTreat Pest Control in Fredericksburg since 1982. The Virginia native was a Fredericksburg City councilman from 2000 to 2004. Wilson, 69, is married to Mary and they have three daughters and seven grandchildren. Wilson sat down with Fredericksburg Parent and Family magazine to answer questions about another significant endeavor in his life — grandparenting. Fredericksburg Parent: Tell us a little about yourself. Joe Wilson: I was raised in Buena Vista, Va., near Lexington. I attended Washington and Lee University, as well as University of Richmond. I came to Fredericksburg in 1965 when I was 20 years old, working with Orkin Pest Control. Spotsylvania and Stafford each had a population of about 12,000, and Fredericksburg had 17,000 people. I remember distinctly that there was one traffic light in Spotsylvania. I left the area for the Midwest, but came back in 1982 and purchased PermaTreat. We had six employees, including myself, and one branch location on Lafayette Blvd. Today we've grown to over 130 employees and eight service locations throughout Virginia. I like to say our claim to fame is that we service the state capitol building. 12 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • November 2013 FP: Tell us about how you raised your children. JW: My wife was the primary person who raised the children, and I traveled a lot and was always on an airplane. One of the problems with traveling is that I would not get to see the kids each day. On the positive side, when you get back off the road, you could see the difference a week made. They all grew an inch or two. We had a very good family situation. I like to brag that I was able to raise three daughters with no drug problems. Not even cigarettes. FP: What was family time like at your house? JW: We had a cottage up in Wisconsin that we would go to in the summer time. There were a lot of opportunities in the winter for skating, playing in the snow and occasionally skiing. October in Wisconsin was beautiful and full of festivals — Oktoberfest, bratwurst. Our Illinois house had a lot of outdoor function to it. We had a summer kitchen. We could have lots of people over for entertaining.