Dr. Robert Anderson Wright

1933 - 2019

Dr. Robert Anderson Wright, age 85, of Amarillo, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.

The memorial service in honor of Dr. Robert A. Wright will be held at the JA Hill Chapel on the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon on Saturday, April 27 at 11:00 AM.

Robert was born on July 22, 1933 in El Paso, Texas, to Robert Emmett Anderson and Margaret Wright, and was adopted at the age of five and raised by his maternal grandparents Joshua Walker Wright (Bapoo) and Helen Constance Wattermyer Wright (Nanny). Wright attended the distinguished Staunton Military Academy in Virginia (grades eight through twelve), where he graduated second-in-command in the Class of 1951. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Range Management from the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now New Mexico State University) in 1955, followed by a Master's Degree in Range Management from the same institution in 1960. Bob served honorably in the United States Air Force as a ground-controlled intercept officer at posting assignments in Nevada and California following completion of his undergraduate education.

Following his Air Force service, Bob served briefly on faculty at New Mexico Highlands University and then pursued a Ph.D. in Plant Ecology from the University of Arizona, which he earned in 1965. In 1964, Wright joined the faculty of West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M University), where he would serve for the next five decades as an Associate Professor, and later Professor of Biology. He would retire from West Texas A&M in 2013 and was honored with the distinction of Professor Emeritus in 2014. Dr. Wright's academic passion impacted the lives of thousands of WT students over the years, and he enjoyed the friendship and comradery of faculty within the Department of Life, Earth, and Environmental Sciences at WT.

During his tenure, Wright's teaching and academic writings extended from evolution, wildland soil sciences, plant ecology, and dendrochronology (the science of tree-ring dating), among others. In 1980, Wright was on sabbatical for postdoctoral research at Harvard University, and was a long-serving member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in which he served for a time as president of Southwestern and Rocky Mountain Division. He was particularly fond of the flora and ecosystem of the American Southwest, having spent significant time and research endeavor at both Palo Duro Canyon and the New Mexico State University Jornada Experiment Range north of Las Cruces. Much like the thorny and rugged plants he enjoyed studying, Wright's prickly exterior belied a gregarious and loving man to close friends and family alike.

Dr. Wright was passionate about science and academia and loved spending time with his family. He stayed in shape through jogging and power lifting, winning many competitions well into his fifties.

Robert and wife Karen Braly Wright of Woodward, Oklahoma, were united in marriage on July 10, 1976. They would welcome the birth of a son, Jared Ethan, in 1979, and daughter Jaime Lynn, in 1982.

Dr. Wright is survived by his wife Karen, of Amarillo, his son Jared Wright and wife Dawn of Salt Lake City, Utah, and daughter Jaime Griggs and husband Brian of Amarillo. He is also survived by his children from a previous marriage: daughter Stacie DeLespine McGill and husband John of Austin, daughter Kellie Ione Curtin and husband Michael of Skagway, Alaska, daughter Robin Clark and husband Keevin of Amarillo, and son Clifford "Clif" Wright and wife Alison Young of Austin. Dr. Wright is survived by many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

He will be dearly missed by his loving family and many friends.

Sign the online guestbook at www.boxwellbrothers.com.