Leslie William Wright Jr.

Leslie “Les” William Wright, Jr., passed away at the age of 93 on January 13, 2026, in Mt Pleasant, SC. 

Les was born in Beaumont, TX, on August 22, 1932. He grew up in Huntsville, TX, attending Sam Houston State University, where he met his future wife, Laura (White). After graduating with a degree in journalism in 1953, he served in the U.S. Navy as Executive Officer and Navigator on the USS Deal in the Far East, and later on the USS Portunus in Brooklyn, NY.

Married in Huntsville on January 29, 1955, Les and Laura soon moved to New York, where Les worked as a technical writer for the Univac Division of Sperry-Rand Corporation after leaving the Navy. 

In 1961, the couple relocated with their two daughters to Arlington, VA, where Les was Chief Executive Officer of multiple computer software firms supporting the defense industry. In Arlington, Les and Laura made lifelong family friends. They collected and restored many antiques while exploring the East Coast, including trunks refinished by Les.

Les and Laura moved to Portland, OR in 1991, where they also made many dear friends and spent happy times at the Miner’s beach house in Cannon Beach, where Les once again had a workshop, this time crafting furniture made from old barnwood and driftwood salvaged from the beach. They resided in Portland until their recent relocation to Daniel Island, SC in October 2024.

Les especially loved ice cream, as well as playing (and watching) golf. He enjoyed going to The Masters; shot his age several times; and considered himself lucky enough to have golfed up and down both coasts, as well as on Oahu, HI.

A lifelong fan of other sports, Les enjoyed watching football, baseball, and basketball—especially rooting for the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox, plus his daughters’ college teams, the Texas Longhorns and Virginia Cavaliers.

Over the decades, Les equally adored all of his “grand-dogs” and “grand-cats.”

He is survived by his wife, Laura; his daughter and son-in-law, Geralyne “Geri” and John H.F. Miner of Isle of Palms, SC; his daughter, Lauryne Wright, of La Luz, NM, and his brother, Charles Frederick Wright, of Rockport, TX. He was preceded in death by his parents, Leslie William Wright, Sr., and Myrtle Geraldine Birmingham Wright.

Ever the Navy man who navigated by the stars, Les requested this poem be shared upon his passing:

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First Tee Oregon.

Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at mcalister-smith.com/.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Mount Pleasant, 1520 Rifle Range Rd, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464, (phone).