When Gerald Reid Wilson was born on 22 February 1903, in Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, United States, his father, Alexander Frier Wilson, was 38 and his mother, Sierra Nevada Reid, was 31. He married Fern Luella Talley on 23 June 1926. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. He lived in Webster Township, Polk, Iowa, United States for about 10 years. He died on 29 June 1994, in United States, at the age of 91, and was buried in Puyallup, Pierce, Washington, United States.