Antony Wilbraham

Antony (Tony) Wilbraham, age 79, of Edwardsville, IL, passed away at Barnes Hospital Tuesday, May 3, 2016.
Tony is survived by his beloved wife of 50 years, Wendy (Kerr), his son Major Andrew (Jennifer) Wilbraham, and two granddaughters, Elizabeth and Catherine. He is also survived by a brother Kenneth (Sue), and sister Sheila (Anthony) Maunder, and several nieces and nephews, all of England.
Tony was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Helena (Stanton) Wilbraham, and a sister Jean (Price).
Tony was born in Chester, England, and attended King's School. He began his professional career at Shell Refining Company, Cheshire, England, as an Analytical Technician from 1953-60, during which he completed undergraduate and graduate programs in Chemistry at Carlett Park College. In 1962 he graduated from the Royal Society of Chemistry (London), at which time he was awarded a research diploma by the RSC for work done as a graduate assistant at Liverpool Regional College. He did postdoctoral work at the University of South Florida, and was a visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, from 1967-68.
In 1968 Tony joined the Chemistry Faculty at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, directed Master's Theses and wrote and presented many papers. He received the SIUE Senior Teaching Excellence Award in 1978, and retired as Professor Emeritus in 1995.
In 1981 Tony co-authored the college textbook "Atoms Molecules and Life, " which went into three editions and led to the production, in 1984, of an introductory chemistry textbook that was translated into Italian, Spanish and Bahasa Indonesian. In 1986 came the first edition of Addison-Wesley Chemistry, for high school students. Now called Pearson Chemistry, this book's 8th edition was published in 2015.
Tony loved nature and was particularly fond of bird watching. He contributed his time and resources to The Watershed Nature Center of Edwardsville, and at one time served as treasurer. He enjoyed playing harmonica and was a member of the Gateway Harmonica Club in St. Louis. Tony was a master woodworker and doting grandfather who especially loved crafting toys for his granddaughters.
Services will be held Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 406 Hillsboro Ave., Edwardsville, IL 62025.
Visitation will be from 9:30 am to 10:30 am, followed by eulogies from 10:30 am to 11:00 am, with a service at 11 am.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to The Watershed Nature Center, P.O. Box 843, 1591 Tower Avenue, Edwardsville, IL 62025, or to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.
Weber and Rodney Funeral Home in Edwardsville is in charge of arrangements.