William S. Wightman

1927 - 2019

Of Old Saybrook died August 15. Born February 21, 1927 in Bristol, Ct., Bill was the son of Stoddard E. Wightman and Hilma Louise (Lulu) Faulk. He is survived by a son, Porter Wightman of Florida and a daughter, Prudence Sloane of Salem, Ct, as well as three grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by two wives, Alice Davis Porter and Arline Johnson McCahan, and one sister, Elinor Fredrickson Fisher. He enlisted in the Navy the day after he turned seventeen and was trained as a medic for the invasion of Japan. After the service he worked as a shad fisherman and helped Ernie Hull build the marina at Saybrook Point. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, getting a degree in textile engineering. He worked thirty years for Albany International designing paper machine clothing. He worked abroad in France, Sweden, Holland, Brazil, and South Africa. He retired in South Carolina in 1982, living there until his second marriage in 2002 when he moved to Old Saybrook. He was an avid sailor and proud owner of the Fenwick cottage, the "Maggie P." In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington.