Adams House Alum Dies in Car Crash

Members of the Adams House community gathered last night to mourn the death of Jamin B. Wilson ’04, a U.S. Air Force first lieutenant who was killed in a car accident Thursday on his way to work at the Spangdahlem Air Base in western Germany.

Friends remembered Wilson as a visible and sociable resident of the House, a hard-working student in the Computer Science Department, an enthusiastic member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), and an avid world traveller.

“He was truly the most friendly person I have ever known, and made everyone around him smile and want to be better,” said Adams House classmate and close friend Jessica L. Bryan ’04.

“He loved experiencing different cultures,” said longtime friend Jeffrey P. Burch, who attended D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School in Denver, Colo. with Wilson.

Immediately after graduating from Harvard, Wilson entered the Air Force and served at Spangdahlem. “He loved being stationed at where he was,” said Burch, who in late September toured western Europe with Wilson.

Travelling from his base, Wilson snowboarded in the Austrian Alps, hang-glided over Swiss lakes, and ran with the bulls in Pamplona, according to an article he wrote last fall for the newsletter of his MIT-headquartered ROTC detachment. But he emphasized in the article that he enjoyed his time on duty as much—if not more—than his off-duty adventures.

At the time, he was a second lieutenant in command of 25 airmen, and he wrote to the newsletter about “the incredible group of people I get to work with.”

“This 2nd Lieutenant thing is awesome,” Wilson wrote.

It wasn’t just the Americans in Spangdhalem who forged close friendships with Wilson. “He lived on the second story of a home with a German lady,” said longtime friend Tyler S. Stoehr. “He wanted to live off of the Air Force base so he could have an authentic German experience.”

He was set to complete his four years of service in the Air Force in 2008, and according to Bryan, he aspired to become an architect after he left the military.

Friends were confident that, whatever his post-military career track, he “would succeed in whatever he did,” Stoehr said.

At Harvard, Wilson rose early each morning for ROTC training, but he was equally committed to Adams House life, according to Naomi O. Hausman ’04, now an economics doctoral candidate here.

“Out of the 450 or so students who lived in Adams House, ‘J.B.’ was one of the few true leaders that people could always trust and turn to in times of need,” said House Co-Master Sean G. Palfrey ’67.

Wilson “was really passionate about serving his country,” added Co-Master Judith S. Palfrey ’67.

According to his senior yearbook, Wilson served as president of the National Defense Forum at Harvard and rose to the rank of wing commander in ROTC. He also rowed for Adams’ intramural lightweight crew team.

“For a 26-year-old, he lived life to the fullest,” said Bryan, “but the world is a poorer place without him.”