William Wright Obituary

William Robert Wright
1935 ~ 2012
William Robert Wright (Bob) died peacefully at home on January 13, 2012 after 20 years with Alzheimer's disease.
Bob was born on May 20, 1935, in Salt Lake City to Ralph Bassett and Afton Middlemiss Wright. He attended East High School, where he graduated in 1953 as valedictorian. From 1955-58, he served in the Swiss Austrian Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Bob attended the University of Utah where he earned a B.S. in Geology in 1960 and affiliated with Sigma Chi Fraternity and Owl & Key Fraternity. He was also elected Vice President of the student body. In 1963, he earned a J.D. at the University of Utah College of Law where he served on the Board of Editors of Utah Law Review.
Upon graduation from law school, Bob practiced law at Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough in Salt Lake City for 29 years, serving as managing partner, senior vice president and member of the board of directors and executive committee. He specialized in litigation, government relations, commercial law and antitrust.
Bob enjoyed numerous legal distinctions, including University of Utah Law School Fellow and lecturer, Chairman of the Young Lawyers Section of the Utah Bar, ex officio member of the Utah Bar Commission, Master of the Bench of the Southerland Inn of Court, and finalist nominated by President Ronald Reagan for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Ninth, Tenth and District of Columbia Circuits; the U.S. District Court for Utah; and the State of Utah.
On August 6, 1965, Bob married Janet Clark in the Salt Lake Temple. They had one daughter and seven sons.
Bob had an illustrious political career, serving as Chairman of the Utah Republican Party from 1977-79, the Republican candidate for governor of the State of Utah in 1980, member of the Council of Legal Advisors to the Republican National Committee, Legal Counsel to the Utah Republican Party, and member of the Oil Shale Environmental Advisory Panel appointed by Interior Secretary James Watt.
Bob championed education. He served on Utah's State Board of Education from 1972-76, presided as its chair in 1974 and 1975, and then became Chairman of the National Association of State Boards of Education, representing the U.S. Department of Education as an ambassador to Israel and Egypt and at NASA's launch of the educational satellite at the Kennedy Space Center. From 1985-89, he served as a member and as chair of the Institutional Council (Board of Trustees) of the University of Utah. He also served on numerous boards of directors, including those of the Utah Opera, Ballet West, Columbus Community Training Center, Salt Lake County Association for the Mentally Retarded and South Davis Community Hospital.
Bob cherished his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving on the Missionary Committee, as a guide at Temple Square, and in many teaching and leadership positions. From 1989-1992, Bob served as President of the Washington, D.C. North Mission.
After his missionary service, he became a partner at Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn in Washington, D.C. He later became a partner at Holme Roberts & Owen in Salt Lake City.
Even after he was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, Bob's desire to serve continued. He volunteered to work with doctors and nurses in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Study for Alzheimer's for eight years in Bethesda, Maryland, searching for a cure.
After years of research and interviews, Bob co-authored David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, which was published by the University of Utah Press. In 2006, it won the Mormon History Association's Best Biography Award, the Utah State University's Evans Handcart Award and the Utah State Historical Society's Best Utah History Book Award.
Bob was a brilliant presence, a towering and beloved figure in the lives of his family. More than anything, he enjoyed fly fishing, golfing, fishing trips to Yellowstone, watching his sons' various athletic events, pheasant hunting, boating at Lake Powell and trips to Laguna Beach. His love of the earth and all its landscapes germinated lifelong interests and passions in each of his children. His intelligence and ambition never overshadowed his generous, tolerant and open-minded nature. With an adventurous spirit, he always strived to be more, understand more, experience more. Eloquent and refined in his prime, in his decline he learned to live in the presence of absence. The disease that needed 20 years to take him never took his beautiful core. We carry it with us back out into the world he loved.
Bob is survived by his wife, Janet; their eight children: Anne-Marie (Fred Lampropoulos), Robert (Pesha), Joseph (Cynthia), Jonathan (Carol), Thomas (Caroline), Charles (Meredith), Frank (Tiffany) and Michael (Lindsay); 18 grandchildren; and brothers Ralph, Richard and David.
Services will be held Wednesday, January 18, at noon in the Monument Park Stake Center (1320 South Wasatch Drive), and visitors may come from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Visitation will also be available at Larkin Sunset Lawn (2350 East 1300 South) on Tuesday, January 17, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Published by Deseret News from Jan. 15 to Jan. 16, 2012.
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Memories and Condolences
for William Wright

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Dear Wright Family,
A copy of the Church News with news of Bob's passing reached us here in Ghana. It brought back floods of memories of working at Bob's side. I appreciate the kindness with which he tutored me over the years.
With gratitude and love for this good man,
Lee Curtis

Lee Curtis

February 10, 2012

I have been out of town and was so sorry to hear of Bob's passing. He was a great friend and an outstanding public servant to Utah and the church. His contributions as outlined in the news were but a small part of all the marvelous things that he has done. May the Lord bless you in the coming days and weeks ahead.

Norman Bangerter

January 27, 2012

Dear Sister Wright I was one of your missionaries in the DC Mission. I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I cherish the time I was able to spend under you and your husband. Thank you for all of the service you and your family have given. Love Sister Dye (Tonya Dye Yamauchi)

January 19, 2012

Dear Wright Family, We know of your deep love for Bob and his for you. Our prayers and thoughts are with you. In response to the adage " you have chosen your love, so love your choice", Janet, you are exemplary in loving your choice. Sean and Ann Douglas

January 19, 2012

Anne-Marie,

Please know how sorry I am for your loss. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

-deedee fox

DeeDee Fox

January 19, 2012

Dear Janet and Family, we want to let you know you are in our thoughts during this time of deep sorrow. Please accept our sincere condolences over the loss of this gentle, giant of a man.
Rex and Anita Bean

Rex Bean

January 18, 2012

John and I have admired and respected Bob for decades. He and Janet were wonderful neighbors in Bountiful. We have cherished memories of delightful times together. Our paths did not cross as frequently after the Wrights moved to Salt Lake City, but we followed the progress of his professional and political career. He succeeded in everything he did. He made many contributions to Utah of which his family can be proud including his dedication as a father. We send our condolences.
Sheryl L. Allen, Bountiful, Utah

January 17, 2012

President and Sister Wright's guidance in the Washington DC North Mission provided me with many priceless lessons. He will be remembered as a valiant man of God and a true disciple of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Wright family.

Lorraine Ahlborn Sandberg

January 17, 2012

I am so sorry to hear about your Dad. He was so kind and fun. I remember growing up with your family - it was always an adventure. Thinking of you all at this time... Julie Glade Giles

January 17, 2012

We admire the entire Wright family. What a legacy Bob has left.
Our best to you all. Chere and John Romney

January 17, 2012

As a political aide to Bob's 1984 campaign I can tell you that he was an extraordinary man who loved his country, his church and his family (and especiallly Janet). He was an incredible example to me whether we were at the office, at a campaign rally or on the golf course.

One of the reasons I became a lawyer was because of the example Bob set for me by showing me that attorneys are servants of those in need. Whenever he would speak to a legal client (while campaigning) you could tell that there was a mutual admiration where Bob's jovial nature came through in every conversation. Clients, voters and friends loved him.

I admired Bob for so many reasons. He was principled, intelligent and possessed that rare gift of integrity which he shared with all he knew. I was a better person for having known and associated with him.

In short, I loved Bob Wright and will miss him tremendously.

My prayers are with Janet and his entire family.

(Mr) Tracy L. Hickman, Esq.

Tracy Hickman

January 17, 2012

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Wrights at this difficult time. I will never forget the generosity shown to me in 1993 when the Wrights opened their home to me for a summer. Bob and Janet provided me with enough love and parenting needed by an 18-year old while Chuck kept me busy (but not always out of trouble) helping him swap out sprinklers on the golf course. Moving around as much as I have these past 20 years makes me lament the limited association I've had with such a wonderful, fun family. We're sorry we can't celebrate Bob's life with you at this difficult time but send our prayers, love and admiration.
Matt & Alicia Boyden

Matt Boyden

January 16, 2012

Dear Wright Family,
He was truly a wonderful man. I will keep you all in my prayers as you walk through this loss.
Jeri May (and Monroe May, Merit Medical)

Jeri May

January 16, 2012

Dear Janet and family...Kaye and I admired and loved Bob and your family. We had hoped he would be elected governor. I know KF enjoyed working with your boys and I loved your Ann Marie.

Marilyn Nelson

Marilyn Nelson

January 16, 2012

Bob's Family--litigated against and travelled a lot with Bob in the late '70s
early 80's..always thoughtful and a very able opposing counsel. Dick

Dick Giauque

January 16, 2012

Dear Wright family:
I express my deepest sympathy at the passing of dear Elder Wright, which is how I knew him as a young teen-ager in the Swiss-Austrian mission. My father, Jesse Curtis, was Bob's mission president and I have many fond memories of him in the mission field. He was an outstanding missionary in every respect. When I married my husband, Gordon, met him as we attended mission reunions and he, too, grew to love him.
Sincerely, Susan Curtis Porter
Mesa, Arizona

Susan Curtis Porter

January 16, 2012

Janet, Anne-Marie and family, we would like to offer our sincere condolences and our love at this time of your great loss. We recall fond memories of the days in Bountiful and have often thought of your family. We know that the Spirit of the Lord will be with you in the days ahead. Love the Keiser's

Renae Dyatt (Keiser)

January 15, 2012

I am so sorry to hear about the passing of President Wright. May the peace of the Spirit attend to Sister Wright and the entire family. He was a kind man with a keen intellect and a peaceful demeanor.

Ray Allen

January 15, 2012

Dear Janet, Dave, John, Tom and Wright Family,
We send our love and our genuine sympathy at this time of loss. We have loved and admired your entire family for many years and we thank you for your exemplary lives of goodness. Bob will be missed as we reflect upon his life of inspirational leadership and model of unselfish service. I remember well his singular teaching skills and his positive influence upon me and upon his younger brother David. His intellect and his exemplary life as a husband, father and friend will never be forgotten.
We are sorry that we are not in Utah and unable to attend the viewing or funeral. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Janet, and with your wonderful family. We love the Wright Family and thank you for your friendship over these many years.
With much love,

Craig and Jan Zwick

January 15, 2012

Dear Ilene and the Wright family, I'm so sorry for this loss.
Andrea Andersen

andrea andersen

January 15, 2012

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