Wilbur Buckner Pearson, Jr.

Wilbur Buckner Pearson, Jr., of Amherst, MA, died on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, after a brief hospitalization. He was born on January 29, 1940, in St. Louis, MO, to Elise Marie and Wilbur Buckner Pearson, Sr. His family moved around during World War II for work and eventually settled in Columbus, MS, where he spent his formative years.

Wilbur is survived by his brother Dennis Pearson of Marshville, NC, his sister Charme (Ken) Tate of St. Augustine, FL, and his wife of 57 years, Barbara Zurer Pearson, as well as his children, Samantha Pearson (Stephen Buonopane) of Lewisburg, PA, and R. Zachary Pearson (Luanna Vianna) of Ft. Lauderdale, FL; and grandchildren, Elijah, Ella, and Daphne Pearson-Martinez, Seth Martinez, and Ezra and Hazel Buonopane.

Wilbur went to school for architecture at Auburn University, the University of Southern California, and MIT. He initially worked primarily as an architect, before transitioning to being an architectural perspectivist in his later career.

In addition to his architectural training, Wilbur worked for Disney in Los Angeles, and he spent two years documenting Mayan architecture for the University of Pennsylvania archaeological site at Tikal in Guatemala. He also taught briefly at the University of Miami before joining an architecture practice where he worked on projects across the South, the Caribbean, and Mexico. As a perspectivist, he worked frequently in collaboration with his brother-in-law’s firm, Ken Tate, Architect in Jackson, MS. Wilbur’s career in Miami was punctuated or interrupted in 1992 first by Hurricane Andrew and then a six-month stint in Florence, Italy, thanks to a Fulbright grant awarded to his wife. Then in 1998, after living, working, and raising children in Miami, FL, for 30 years, he and his wife moved to Amherst, MA, where they have enjoyed extensive community connections, proximity to the universities, and frequent travel to visit friends and family.

In retirement, Wilbur pursued his long-time passions. He devoted himself to life drawing, attending sessions often three times a week. He had learned to fly as a young man and retained an intense interest in aircraft, especially the model airplanes he grew up making and flying, ultralights, and the various fighter aircraft from the era of the World Wars. He selectively admired motorcycles and sports cars, especially Porsches and his beloved Miata. He had a love and aptitude for music, which he inherited from his mother, and shared with his siblings, children, and grandchildren.

Wilbur had been in failing health, but without a specific diagnosis for about a year. In the end, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away within 24 hours of receiving the final test results.

Wilbur was an unusual combination of exacting and easy-going. He was physically strong, sure-footed and steady, and also sensitive and thoughtful. He had a strong sense of design and always set up his environment so that it was a pleasant respite. Many recall the indoor/outdoor modernist living space, canopies, and landscaping surrounding the pool at the Pearson home in Miami.

He was a man of few words, but still communicated his love and care for the people around him. His calm spirit was a model for manhood in a challenging era. He leaves a legacy of built work and renderings, an extensive library of art books, a hard-to-match mastery of cardboard as a medium, a love of ice cream, especially homemade (his last meal was a bit of vanilla ice cream), and a mountain of figure drawings.

To get a sense of his artistic and professional work, please visit bit.ly/WBPjr2022show, and his website, wilburpearsonart.com.

Wilbur was laid to rest on Friday, February 6, 2026, in the Highland Woods green burial grounds in Montague, MA, where he was seen off by his immediate family and many from the community of artists in the life drawing group he had attended for the past twenty years. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, Southern Poverty Law Center, or the League of American Bicyclists.