Richard Marvin Wright
Richard Marvin Wright was born January 8th, 1942. Dick was my older brother, my protector, always watching out for me, until I was older, then he was always picking on me. He was born in Bath,.NY. We moved to Elmira, NY when he was in the 8th Grade. His early interests were mostly sports and playing his beloved trumpet or bugle. In high school, he had his own band. They used to play/practice in our basement. Mom loved that! Our parents were Louise (Buckley)and Elmer Wright.
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After graduating from Southside High School in Elmira, Dick earned his BSEE at RIT in Rochester, NY, and took Master Courses both at Union College in Schenectady, NY, and Clark University in Worcester, Mass. He met Alice Warner while he was at RIT and they married on July 9, 1966. After working for GE Co. for 3 years in Pittsfield, Mass, he began working for Digital Equipment Corp. from 1969 to 1993. During that time, he managed sales forces for both mainframe and minicomputer systems; planned sales strategy in larger markets for lab data products for England, the Nordic Countries and Mid East working out of England, where he settled with his family for a few years. They returned to the US for 3 years in New England with sales focus on all markets, and then on to Minneapolis, Minn. for 7 years with responsibility for 4 states. When DEC downsized, Dick tried a few different things, working from home mostly.
To help supplement income, he worked a paper route! He worked at Frontier Systems for a short time as marketing manager. Early in 2000, he and Alice moved to NYS where the plans were for him to open up a NE market for Laser Technologies (focus on laser printer service programs and wireless data solutions), and the two of them planned to look for property to fix up and open as a B&B. Alice had been designing the plans for a couple of years. Unfortunately, Dick suffered a pulmonary embolism and died suddenly in Utica, NY, on December 22, 2000, just a few weeks short of his 59th birthday!
Above right (top) is a picture of Dick when a baby with his dad and his grandmother, Hattie Wright. Immediately below is a picture of Alice and Dick at their wedding. They make a great looking couple on the left as they dance together.
At right is one of my favorite pictures of Dick, Alice and family, taken early in l982. Standing is their oldest Rick (born 1/13/1967), on the right also standing is Bill (born 9/13/1968), lower left is daughterCatherine (born 6/22/1977) and youngest daughter Margaret on Alice's lap (born 9/11/1981).
Their first-born son, Richard "Rick" Wright knew how to "read" around the age of 2, sitting on the floor and "reading" most of the smaller words out of the newspaper to his Grandpa Wright. Soon after, he took up golf, really!! Rick obtained his BA, MA and PhD (1998) in near Eastern Studies (Ancient Near Eastern Languages & Literature) from Cornell University and his MDiv from Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA. "Doctor Wright" has pastored churches in Montross and Richmond, VA, and is now the pastor at Livingston United Methodist Church, a small congregation in rural Livingston. It is a part time appointment so he can also work at the Career Center at East Baton Rouge Public Library. Because he is new to the Methodist fold he takes online classes on Methodist History, Methodist Doctrine, and Methodist Policy. While a student at Cornell, Rick met Armetta J. Fields, when she was the Baptist campus minister there. She is from Elizabethtown, TN, and is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State Univ. (BBA) and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDiv). They married on March 14, 1992. Daughters Mary Keziah (born 4/16/1995) and Anna McKay (born 8/15/1996) were born while they lived in Richmond. Armetta is the STEM teacher at Magnolia Woods Elementary School. She teaches science and engineering to students of all grades. She also leads the "gospel for children" during worship on Sunday. Armetta likes to read and they enjoy watching interesting shows together.
Rick has many interests, such as the study of the Old Testament and ancient languages. He likes astronomy and space exploration as well as computer technology. He has been developing a website devoted to the Revised Common Lectionary - a calendar of suggested Scripture readings for each Sunday of the year. He posts vocabulary and notes on Scripture readings in the original Hebrew or Greek. http://plenumcreaturis.wordpress.com.
Both daughters Mary and Anne graduated from Louisiana State University. Mary is working on a graduate degree in counseling at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Anne is working on a doctorate in cognitive psychology at Vanderbilt University.
William Wright had attended Berklee College of Music in Boston when the family was living in Massachusetts. Bill became disenchanted with Mass. and music in general, and decided to move with the family to Minnesota in 1988. While in Minnesota, he started taking Computer Science classes. Within a few years he started a career as a programmer. Tayler Remme, his daughter with Julie Remme, came along as his career was starting to flourish on April 1st, 1995. He became an independant contractor for awhile before settling into consulting. A few years ago, a group of fellow technologists and Bill broke away from their firm, Merrill Communications LLC where they comprised the entire Research & Development Dept. and formed Cetara Corp. Bill has since left that company and is currently a Systems Architect at Delta Air Lines, working in Flight Crew Systems. He finds the work rewarding after a few years there. He mixes his free time between being with his kids and playing in three different bands.
Taylor Remme is now 24 and finishing up at Metropolitan State in St. Paul, with a degree in Communications. Daughter Maya is 12 and enjoying 6th grade. Her activities include Volleyball and Band (she plays Clarinet and Guitar). Owen is now 9, in 3rd grade and loves Archery, Mine Craft and Legos.
You can reach Bill at: busker68@gmail.com.
Catherine Wright, in Dick's words, "Always loved to dance her head off." She has always been a trouper, dancing for hours (practice), taking dance classes, and used to then jog afterwards, "the true jock in the family." According to Dick in a letter from 1995: "She'll migrate into the areas where she'll be challenged, and what she loves will be the guide." Cathy Wright (choreographer, teacher, performer) was a devoted fan of film directors David Lynch and Ridley Scott in her preteens, and as such, she started creating short films in high school. She then went on to the University of Utah for her BFA and MFA in Modern Dance, where she shocked peers with her “sacrilegious” compositions. She returned to the Twin Cities in 2002, teaching, directing, and choreographing while completing an MA in Education at Minnesota State University Mankato.
On the left are pix from her choreographed tribute to Dick, called "Old Man", with music from Neil Young/Lizzie Wright CD with accoustic guitar and banjo that she feels her Grandpa Wright (Elmer) would have liked. Second pic is from her sister Margaret's choreographic piece "Cepheid". Both pix were from Cathy's production titled "Dweller on the Threshold", with Margaret as guest choreographer. In her work, Cathy is being both challenged and loving what she's doing. And she has received rave reviews for her work on Momentum 2 performance.
Here's some from this year: “And we’d all better pay attention, because [she’s] good. Intriguing. Weird. Fantastical. Creepy, even. But good.” – mnartists.org
Her choreography has also been performed nationally at the University of the Arts and Merriam Theater (Philadelphia, PA), New World School of the Arts and the Gusman Center for Performing Arts (Miami, FL), and at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts, Marriot Center for Dance, art galleries and streets in Salt Lake City, UT. Poster at the right from "The Demon Familar" solo-in-progress.
Catherine recently returned to Upstate New York, to live near her mother, and try something new in the arts. She recently had a child with her boyfriend, Ethan Wright Koury, born 10/31/2019.
You can reach Cathy at wrightcatherine3@gmail.com
Margaret Wright McMenamin was born in England. She followed her brothers' and sister's steps in theater (both boys had a try at theater during their years in England). As a freshman in high school at Apple Valley, she was the only frosh to get speaking parts in plays, the only frosh to make an audition for the dance class contest tryouts for Miami (annual dance performance event that draws all the top performing arts hig schools), etc., etc. Her strength in dance was ballet, and her beautiful singing voice, another Wright gal with "triple threats." Dick used to send me letters about the girls, "Catherine's the big-eyed, blond, pretty gal with charisma and energy, great at caricature parts, and Margaret's a pretty brunette, sweet-voiced gal with a graceful, wistful style. Catherine's dance is athletic, and Marge's is serious. Really interesting....and I'm particularly proud that they're both thoughtful, kind-hearted, loving young ladies."
Margaret followed her more serious side, though, and studied Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota. She is a civil engineer and AutoCAD trainer. She recently got her Professional Engineering license in several Atlantic states including NYS.
She married Brenton McMenamin on October 26, 2013, and they currently live in Brooklyn, NY. Brenton is a data scientist for a big tech company.
They live in Brooklen, NY, with their kitty Teto, named after Nausicaa's fox squirrel.
Alice has been trying to form some kind of a future for herself over the past couple of years. She has purchased an old farmhouse and barn with 150 acres in Westmoreland, NY, and hopes to do considerable refurbishing, following through on their dream of owning and running a B&B. Over the years, busy with obtaining her art degree and being a school bus driver, her chief concentration has always been to be a supportive partner for Dick, moving when and where he needed for his career, and taking care of their family. Many times, Dick had expressed to me how much of a tower of strength for him and the kids Alice has been.
Two sisters - now (on left) and back then (with Santa). How the years pass quickly!
This page was last updated on 5/3/2022.
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Copyright 2008-2023 by Marilyn K. (Wright) Dayton
maredayt@yahoo.com
I was one of the luckiest people on Earth when I got Dick as my big brother! Even when we had not seen each other in a long time, when we did, it was as if it had only been a day. He understood me, he appreciated me for who I was, and he was my guard from day 1, when our mother gave me to him to hold, and he made me the promise that "I will always take care of you."
I miss you so much, my brother, my friend!
