USC Gould School of Law salutes our founder, Mr. Wilson

At 101 years young, Ernest founder, CEO, and Aggravator in Chief, Charles Wilson, has seen a lot in his long and storied life. His humble beginnings included being raised by his widowed mother during the Great Depression, starting his first business venture (a joint paper route) with his brother Ernie, and a WWII combat tour, which earned him not one but two medals of honor, a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. He’s worn a lot of different hats. And this is just what he accomplished before starting Ernest Paper Company way back in 1946, also with his brother Ernest.

We know Mr. Wilson as the lovable, hard-working, push-up pounding head of our company, but did you know he was also a practicing attorney for over 70 years? After returning home from Europe and going into business, Charles went back to school, earning his Juris Doctor (JD) from USC Gould School of Law in 1950.

That was 75 years ago. To celebrate his milestone birthday this June, the USC Gould School of Law wrote an article about “possibly the oldest living USC Gould alumnus,” titled, “Business chairman and retired attorney, still going strong at 101”. 

In it, Mr. Wilson says his law degree helped him be a better business man, because, “You have to understand people in order to build a business.” That certainly seems to have worked. Under his watch, Ernest has grown from a small garage with just two employees to operating 17 locations with over 600 employees across the country. 

Given his impressive resume, it’s no surprise that Mr. Wilson has seen his share of accolades. In addition to this article, he was featured on local Los Angeles KTLA News for his 100th birthday. He led the pledge of allegiance at the swearing in of LA’s newest district attorney. And he was even honored by the LA Dodgers a few years back, when he was a spritely 98.

Mr. Wilson says the secret to his long, successful life is luck, but we think we’re the lucky ones. Everyone at Ernest is eternally grateful to and proud of Mr. Wilson, not just for starting the company, but for shaping our values from the very beginning. Hard work. Helping others. And self-discipline. Thank you, Charles. We salute you!