Robert Lawrence Wussow, 75, of Plano, Texas, passed away Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at home in Plano, Texas, surrounded by his family.
Born in Dallas on November 16, 1950, to Norman and Aileen Wussow, Robert grew up in Dallas and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, where he was an athlete and excelled in his studies. He attended Tulane University before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a bachelor's degree in zoology and a master's degree in library science. It was at Texas that he reconnected with a fellow TJ classmate, Nancy, and the two began a partnership that would span fifty years of marriage.
Robert's career placed him at the frontier of the computing revolution. At Virginia Tech in the mid-1970s, he was part of the team developing the Virginia Tech Library System, one of the nation's first electronic card catalog systems. The pioneering software he helped build eventually served more than 1,900 libraries in 44 countries. After five winters in Blacksburg, Robert and Nancy repatriated to Texas, settling in Plano. Robert continued his work in technology, holding positions at Rockwell and Cognos before founding his own business intelligence consulting firm. He later joined Mary Kay as a consultant-turned-employee, and finished his career with a fifteen-year tenure in data science and business intelligence at Citi.
He was a tinkerer who always had the latest technology, a fixer who could repair anything, and a man of incredible focus when something mattered to him. He was impossible to buy gifts for, both because he already had what he really wanted and because he only trusted his own meticulous research for his tools and gadgets.
Nothing escaped Robert's notice, although he typically didn't have a lot to say about it. He never forgot anything, whether it was the combination of every lock he'd ever owned, or the impossibly long Wifi password on the bottom of the router, or the details of an event that only he had observed. He was the keeper of the family's lexicon—those funny names for things, invented phrases, and linguistic inside jokes only a small circle understood. Robert made you work hard for it, but his wheezing laughter when he really got rolling was a worthy reward. His dry, wry sense of humor had a streak of mischief; he always seemed to find the one thing you had hoped no one would mention.
Robert was a devoted Papa to his four grandchildren; his brightest smiles were reserved for them. He and Nancy created lasting memories traveling with them through Europe, the Middle East, and Washington, D.C., and gathering for holidays in Dallas and Austin. He was a source of strength for his entire family, providing steady support through his presence until the very end.
He is survived by his wife of fifty years, Nancy of Plano; his sons, Travis and wife Katie of Austin, and John and wife Jessie of Austin; his grandchildren, Maggie, Jane, Jonah, and Jack; and his brothers, Charles and James, along with their wives and his nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Norman and Aileen.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to support Lewy body dementia research at UT Southwestern Medical Center's Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute (engage.utsouthwestern.edu/donate-now) or the Lewy Body Dementia Association (lbda.org/donate).
Born in Dallas on November 16, 1950, to Norman and Aileen Wussow, Robert grew up in Dallas and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, where he was an athlete and excelled in his studies. He attended Tulane University before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a bachelor's degree in zoology and a master's degree in library science. It was at Texas that he reconnected with a fellow TJ classmate, Nancy, and the two began a partnership that would span fifty years of marriage.
Robert's career placed him at the frontier of the computing revolution. At Virginia Tech in the mid-1970s, he was part of the team developing the Virginia Tech Library System, one of the nation's first electronic card catalog systems. The pioneering software he helped build eventually served more than 1,900 libraries in 44 countries. After five winters in Blacksburg, Robert and Nancy repatriated to Texas, settling in Plano. Robert continued his work in technology, holding positions at Rockwell and Cognos before founding his own business intelligence consulting firm. He later joined Mary Kay as a consultant-turned-employee, and finished his career with a fifteen-year tenure in data science and business intelligence at Citi.
He was a tinkerer who always had the latest technology, a fixer who could repair anything, and a man of incredible focus when something mattered to him. He was impossible to buy gifts for, both because he already had what he really wanted and because he only trusted his own meticulous research for his tools and gadgets.
Nothing escaped Robert's notice, although he typically didn't have a lot to say about it. He never forgot anything, whether it was the combination of every lock he'd ever owned, or the impossibly long Wifi password on the bottom of the router, or the details of an event that only he had observed. He was the keeper of the family's lexicon—those funny names for things, invented phrases, and linguistic inside jokes only a small circle understood. Robert made you work hard for it, but his wheezing laughter when he really got rolling was a worthy reward. His dry, wry sense of humor had a streak of mischief; he always seemed to find the one thing you had hoped no one would mention.
Robert was a devoted Papa to his four grandchildren; his brightest smiles were reserved for them. He and Nancy created lasting memories traveling with them through Europe, the Middle East, and Washington, D.C., and gathering for holidays in Dallas and Austin. He was a source of strength for his entire family, providing steady support through his presence until the very end.
He is survived by his wife of fifty years, Nancy of Plano; his sons, Travis and wife Katie of Austin, and John and wife Jessie of Austin; his grandchildren, Maggie, Jane, Jonah, and Jack; and his brothers, Charles and James, along with their wives and his nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Norman and Aileen.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to support Lewy body dementia research at UT Southwestern Medical Center's Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute (engage.utsouthwestern.edu/donate-now) or the Lewy Body Dementia Association (lbda.org/donate).
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Robert Lawrence Wussow, please visit our flower store.
Robert Lawrence Wussow's Guestbook
Visits: 137
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors