peter barton wilson was born on august 23, 1933, in lake forest, illinois, a suburb north of chicago. his parents were james boone wilson and margaret (callaghan) wilson. his father sold college fraternity jewelry to work his way through university of illinois, and later became a successful advertising executive. the wilson family settled in st. louis, missouri when pete was in elementary school. he then attended the private, non-sectarian preparatory middle school john burroughs (grades 7–9) in ladue, and then st. louis country day school, an exclusive private high school, where he won an award in his senior year for combined scholarship, athletics, and citizenship. in the fall of 1951, pete wilson enrolled at yale university in new haven, connecticut, where he received a united states navy reserve officers' training corps (rotc) scholarship, majored in english, and earned his bachelor of arts degree. in his junior year he elected to join the marine corps upon his graduation.