David H. "Dave" Wright

David H. "Dave" Wright COLUMBIA - A memorial service for David H. "Dave" Wright, 81, will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, January 25, 2013 at Northeast Presbyterian Church, 601 Polo Road, Columbia. The family will receive friends from 11:45 a.m. until just before the memorial service begins. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family. Mr. Wright passed away late Monday afternoon after a hard-fought, sixteen-month-long battle with cancer. Born David Hazel Wright on May 24, 1931 in Charlotte, North Carolina, he was the son of the late Leatha Mae Austin Wright and Samuel Hazel Wright. Mr. Wright was a graduate of Central High School in Charlotte, but it was the education he received in the real life world of radio and television where he excelled. Dave Wright began his career in radio at the age of 14, when he was offered his first job after impressing a local station manager while competing in a junior disc jockey contest. After a stint in the Air Force during the Korean conflict, Mr. Wright returned to the airwaves at WGIV-AM radio in Charlotte before joining WSJS-AM in Winston-Salem, NC. In 1959, he went to work with WIS Radio in Columbia. He worked in both radio and television, where he hosted a very popular live Saturday afternoon program for WIS-TV called Safari. He worked for WIS as a live, on-air personality and as a radio salesman from 1959 until 1976, when he and three fellow employees, Gene McKay, Bill Benton and Dennis Waldrop, purchased WSCQ-FM, known to the many listeners as Sunny 100. WSCQ went on the air under their ownership on January 31, 1977 and maintained a significant presence in the Columbia market for the next 20+ years. Mr. Wright retired from WSCQ in October 1997. In 1962, Mr. Wright began reporting golf results live from the Masters golf tournament, the first of what would be a 50 consecutive year streak. In April 2010, Wright was a recipient of the prestigious Masters Major Achievement Award. Mr. Wright also reported live from several other PGA tournament sites, including every Heritage Golf Tournament from its inception in 1969. Mr. Wright was widely known and sought after throughout the Southeast as a professional comedian and banquet speaker. He averaged 100+ shows per year from 1958 to 1985, including shows in Las Vegas, Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco. Mr. Wright emceed the Columbia Touchdown Club for many years, as well as countless association meetings, beauty pageants and local shows. He also performed in industrial films and was featured in many commercials locally and nationally. For his work over the years, Mr. Wright earned many awards and honors for which he was very proud. In 1980, he received the highest honor a South Carolinian can receive, The Order of the Palmetto, from Governor Richard W. Riley. He was a recipient of the Sales and Marketing Executives Salesman of the Year Award, and well as SME's Small Business Person of the Year. In addition to his previously mentioned golf honors, Mr. Wright was recognized as the Carolina's Golf Reporter of the Year. He also received the "Key to the City" from Columbia Mayor Bob Coble and he was honored by a proclamation proclaiming "Dave Wright Day in South Carolina". Mr. Wright was member of many civic organizations and boards over the years, including service as a PTA President at two schools, a past-Chairman of the Irmo-Chapin Recreation Commission, and the boards of the SC Broadcasters Association, the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and the Riverbanks Zoo. He also coached Dixie Youth Baseball. Mr. Wright had served as a Deacon and Elder at Northeast Presbyterian Church, as well as a member of the Congregational Care Committee. He was also active in the Upper Room Men's Bible Study group. Before becoming a member of NEPC, Mr. Wright previously served as a youth Sunday School teacher at Woodfield Park Baptist Church and as a Deacon and Adult Sunday School teacher at Riverland Hills Baptist Church. Mr. Wright is survived by his loving wife of 27 years, Lynn Floyd Wright, and their twin son and daughter, Frank Christopher Wright and Katherine Jane Wright, as well as four adult children from a previous marriage: David Austin Wright (Amy), Julian Carrick "Rick" Wright (Barbara); Barry Elliot Wright (Jennifer), and; Amy Wright Conwell (Glen). He leaves behind nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. The family wishes to thank Dr. Leland McElveen and the staff at SC Oncology and the oncology nurse, Shirley at Palmetto Baptist, and Brandi at Palmetto Richland for their loving care and attention. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials to Mr. Wright be made to Northeast Presbyterian Church, 601 Polo Road, Columbia, SC 29223. Please sign the online guestbook at www.dunbarfunerals.com.