Eugene R Wright

Eugene R. Wright was born in Wynona OK to Wallace Harpold Wright and Dorothy Carnes Wright. His early years were spent in Osage County OK in the Burbank oil field. In 1941 he enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in the mechanical engineering program and joined the newly-formed Naval ROTC program. The NROTC unit was placed on active duty status in 1943 and commissioned in February 1944 when Gene was assigned to amphibious vessels in the Pacific. After release from active duty in 1946 he returned to the University of Oklahoma and earned his mechanical engineering degree. In 1952 he was recalled to active duty for the Korean conflict, assigned to the USS Bayfield, and spent the next eighteen months in the waters off Japan and Korea. Released from active duty again in 1953. he chose to maintain formal Naval Reserve training and qualified for promotion to Captain-USNR in 1965. On January 9, 1983, he retired from the Naval Reserve after 23 years of satisfactory federal service.

His civilian career began with Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville OK and ended as a project manager/consultant with Nisseki Chemical Corporation. In the interim he worked for Foster Wheeler, Rohm and Haas, Fluor Corporation, and other engineering firms in the Houston and Beaumont area.

Gene was a man of many passions. His military and civilian careers enabled the family to travel. He became a citrus rancher and Arabian horse breeder. He loved the challenge of real estate and stock market investments. He revived early-learned woodworking skills making lamps, bookcases, magazine racks, and cedar chests that were given to family and friends. He loved tennis, even playing and winning doubles matches at age 89. Most spectator sports, especially Sooner football, were always on his agenda. In later years friendly rivalries developed with family members who supported other college and professional teams. Sudoku puzzles captured his fancy, and when they weren't challenging enough he worked the puzzles upside down in ink. He enjoyed nature and hunting, but in later years the camera became his weapon of choice. His critter pictures, with comic captions, were used in family calendars that became an annual tradition.

A thoughtful and caring husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, he is survived by his wife of 43 years, Sharon, and his three children, son Jim and wfie Kathy, son Jack,and daughter Rachel and husband Larry Frank. His six grandchildren James Wright, Jon Wright, Jacqueline Wright, Landon Frank, Riley Frank, and Libby Frank were a joy in his life. Gene is also survived by his sister Vivian Debord, his sister Dona and husband Robert Wagner, brother Don Wright and wife Leony, sister-in-law Evelyn and husband Charles Hungate, brother-in-law George Hardtla and wife Nancy, and a host of nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Gene's life will be held on Thursday January 31, 2013, at 1:00pm at American Heritage Funeral Home, 10710 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston TX. Military honors and interment will follow in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday January 30, 2013 from 5:00pm-8:00pm. In lieu of floral remembrances the family requests memorial contributions to the Eugene R. Wright Scholarship Fund #42158, University of Oklahoma Foundation, Inc., 100 Timberdell Road, Norman, Oklahoma 73019-0685 or to a charity of donor's choice.