He soon set about writing a history of the local branch, which he is proud to be launching next month at a special reunion event.
Mr Wilson was a scientist at the CSIRO for 27 years, and was its officer in charge for 12 of those.
The book, Science in the Outback: The Life of CSIRO at Deniliquin and its People, charts the history of the CSIRO in Deni from establishment in 1945 to its closure in 1990.
It details many organisational changes that occurred across its 45-year history and its major research findings.
It also presents vignettes of more than 80 of the scientific and supporting staff of the 500 or so who worked there over that time.
“I attended Bill Gordon’s funeral here in Deniliquin about this time last year,” Mr Wilson said.
“He was a long-time employee of the CSIRO and while his eulogy rightly highlighted his war service and his love of music, there was not a lot about his time with the CSIRO.
“It made me realise that we are so close to people forgetting the role of the CSIRO in the town, and I thought, ‘I can’t let that happen’.”
Mr Wilson said funnily enough, he was approached in 2004 to write such a publication by the late Bill Mulham - then president of the Deniliquin & District Historical Society and a well-known local historian. He declined.
Once Mr Wilson started getting some thoughts down on paper last year, however, he found writing the book to be a great experience.
But he highlights that his book is more of a memoir than an official history of the CSIRO.
“It details some notable people in science who got their start in Deniliquin, including John Phillip who was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
“He spent seven years here in the 1950s as a research scientist, and went on to get one of the highest honours in the field.
“I showed the stories on the scientists to a former colleague, Ross Sawtell, who then suggested I include some of the support staff - there were three times as many of them than scientists, and most of them were locals.
“I then started doing a bit more research and added information from scientific publications to fill in the stories.”
The official launch of Science in the Outback will be held Wednesday, August 21 in the Deniliquin RSL Club’s Mountbatten Room.
Open to the public, it will begin at 4pm with current Deniliquin & District Historical Society president Lindsay Renwick as MC.
The launch will be followed by a CSIRO staff reunion, with some expected to travel from Queensland, South Australia, the ACT and parts of NSW and Victoria to attend.
“The reunion grew out of the idea of the launch,” Mr Wilson said.
“It’s become bigger than the launch, and I am touched so many are prepared to travel.”
At the time of its closure in 1990, the CSIRO was operating in Charlotte St, Deniliquin, in the building which currently houses Murray Irrigation Limited.
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