Wayne Arthur Wright Sr.

Wayne was the second child and first son of Myrtle and Rivers Wright. He spent much of his life in the Bronx, New York …first growing up with his siblings Glenda, Gary, and Velva in the South Bronx, and then later as a family man in the northeast portion of the borough, in Co-op City, with his wife Vicki, and his sons, Sean, Wayne Jr., and Ian. He was a graduate of Aviation High School and Bronx Community College. For many years, hetaught mathematics part-time at the latter, in addition to his full-time career working for the Metropolitan Transit Authority retiring in 1994 as the first black Superintendent of the Iron

Workers SMC in the Structures Division. A retired Veteran, Wayne’s military career consisted of: being drafted into the Army in 1965 during the Vietnam War. He was stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona where he met his future wife Vicki Jean Gedney. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1967. He enlisted in the US Navy Reserves in 1978 serving with the Seabees Naval Construction Battalion. Wayne proudly participated in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and his 20 year military career ended with his retirement in 2000 at the rank of Chief Petty Officer. In 1992, he, Vicki, and Ian left New York to settle in Carlsbad, California, where he and Vicki finished raising Ian, while his two older sons settled in Arizona and the Bay Area. He became very active in community life in Carlsbad, particularly by becoming a Little League coach. He and Vicki remained in Carlsbad until 2019, when they relocated again to Walnut Creek, California. Wayne was an avid photographer. He was very knowledgeable about the craft, and could always be counted on to be armed with a high-end camera at any family functions or other special events. In this way, he was very much the chronicler of Wright family history throughout the 1970s, all the way into the current digital camera age. Additionally, he was a fan of traveling. He enjoyed taking long road trips across the United States with his family, and when his family couldn’t join him, he would travel with his younger brother Gary. Eventually, he became a fan of traveling to Hawaii, and of taking cruises with his wife. In New York City, he was a big advocate of the subways, and knew the ins and outs, and

complexities of the world’s largest system as well as anyone else alive. Later, when his family had left the city, he became a big proponent of Southern California living. Spiritually, he was very active in the Episcopal Church… In New York, he was a Sr and Jr Warden and vestry member of Holyrood Church, in

Manhattan, and he was involved in church affairs at St. Joseph’s in Queens. In California, he was Sr and Jr Warden, Vestry Member and Director of the Acolytes at St. Michael’s by the Sea Episcopal Church in Carlsbad. This loving husband and father leaves behind a generational legacy which includes…

His wife of 55 years, Vicki. Three sons: Sean, Wayne Jr-wife Tara, and Ian-wife Nicole. And seven grandchildren: Olivia, Cassiana, Addison, Joshua, Wayne III, Rayliana, and Scarlett. He is also survived by his younger sister Velva, Sister-in-law Mildred and Brother-in-law Nathaniel, as well as nephews Nathan, Tarik and numerous cousins. On Vicki’s side, he is survived by his brothers-in-law Doug, Stuart, and Greg Gedney, and sisters-in-law Barbara (Doug’s wife), and Jayna (Stuart’s wife).