Robert Ewell Wright, Jr.
Robert Ewell Wright, Jr. of Rockwall, TX, and formerly of Newport News, VA, was the oldest child of Robert Ewell Wright, Sr. and Estelle Culpepper Wright of Ruston, Louisiana, who predeceased Robert.
Robert was born July 3, 1939 in Gilmer, TX, and passed away at 3:20 a.m. on November 30, 2020, In Arlington Memorial Hospital, in Arlington, TX, where he had been confined for a week suffering from COVID pneumonia following a positive test two weeks earlier.
He was a resident of Lakeshore Assisted Living, Rockwall, TX, since December 2017 after moving back to Texas after a complex open-heart surgery procedure in October 2017.
Robert was a 1957 Ruston High School (LA) graduate. He was always one who spent his time studying and was interested in science and things that required much thought.
While in high school he was interested in Amateur Radio and had his Amateur Radio License and station and spent time communicating with people all over the world. Upon graduating from High school, Robert enrolled in Louisiana Tech University and graduated in 1961with a BS in Physics. He was recruited and hired by NASA for their fledgling space program upon graduation and spent the next 34 years at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA working primarily on rocket heat shields from which he retired in 1995.
During his career, Robert attended many NASA rocket lift off and well suited for life at NASA and a diligent and motivated employee. He was so dedicated to his work that he never married and lived by himself until recovery in 2017 when he moved to Texas to be near his brother David and family.
He dedicated his life to science and during his tenure at NASA has several patents for items or procedures he developed. Robert was a kind and gentle man and the other residents at Lakeshore Assisted Living knew him as a pleasant man and a real gentleman. COVID19 hit in March 2020 and turned everyone’s world upside down.
Lakeshore went into lockdown mode on March 15, 2020 and Robert could have no visitors, only staff or medical personnel were allowed in the facility. The isolation took a heavy toll on Robert. It was as close to being in jail as one could get without having a guard. In mid-October limited visitation resumed, but as fast as visitation resumed, it quickly closed again, and COVID 19 positives appeared.
Robert spent the last two weeks of his life surrounded by health care workers he did not know, in a place where he was not familiar, and unable to talk with or see any family member.
Robert’s only surviving immediate family member is James David Wright, Heath, TX, formerly of Ruston; wife Sherry Gilbert Wright; their son Jerod Alan Wright and his children, Taylor Wright, Morgan Wright, and Cameron Wright, all of Allen, TX. Other surviving relative is Delaney P. Wright, Rowlett, TX, daughter of Lane David Wright, son of James David Wright who predeceased Robert in death.
As Robert lived his life for science, he died for science, willing his body to The University of North Texas Health Science Center in his hope that others may live as the result of his death.
Honorariums in Roberts name can be made to The University of North Texas Health Science Center, Denton, TX, the Louisiana Tech University Physics Department (for lab equipment), or your favorite charity. There will be no family service. Robert asked that his ashes be disposed of in the Atlantic Ocean.
