John Lewis Wright

Two things about John Wright: he had integrity coming out of his ears, and he was a great speller. The first trait was apparent to most who knew him. The second was a bit of a secret superpower. Always good to have around when doing the NYT crossword puzzle, John was even a certified champion speller. In the early 2000s, in Brevard NC, John won a trophy for Best Senior Speller in Western North Carolina. He was about 60 then and a very elderly woman in the audience was heard to remark, “Well, we could all spell well when we were that young.”

Sandra met John on their first day of teaching at a community college in Springfield, Illinois. She was attracted to his intelligence, love for literature, and his astonishing record collection. Their acquaintance lasted 52 years, growing into five decades of marriage and a family that included their son Zachary and their cat Jasper.  

Sometime during his doctoral studies, John’s love of literature morphed into the study of American popular literature and popular culture. This new focus perfectly meshed with his dream job, which was working at Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. There he directed an array of projects and programs, but his real love was providing the shape and content for new exhibits. As a colleague recently stated, “John’s legacy as the intellect behind most of the Henry Ford Museum exhibits during those years was massive.” He was most instrumental in and most enjoyed “Streamlining in America,” “Motown” (with numerous interviews of Motown greats including Berry Gordy and Smoky Robinson, the latter of whom John said was as electric and genuine as he seems), “The Automobile in American Life,” and “Made in America.”

       
John served as Chair of the Michigan Humanities Council and taught the history of technology at Eastern Michigan University.

When he wasn’t working, John enjoyed summer trips to Northern Michigan for boating and relaxing with his family on the lake and took early-morning fishing trips with Zach and his father John B. He and Zach also built and launched some amazing (and some not-so-amazing) model rockets around the parks of Ypsilanti and Dearborn. 

John moved easily into early retirement to the mountains of western North Carolina. In Asheville, from his deck he enjoyed a view of the city and valley with distant views of mountain ranges, and he never took the spectacular view or amazing sunsets for granted. 
In North Carolina he continued his interest in museums. He was Chair of the Smith-McDowell House Museum, the city’s first mansion and oldest surviving house. As Chair of the Black Mountain Museum + Arts Center, which preserves the artistic legacy of Black Mountain College, he brought the museum from a storage facility to a physical storefront location in downtown Asheville, providing the impetus for its current success. Then, taking a break from volunteerism, John continued enjoying his lifelong hobbies of fishing, computers, and music.  

In 2014 John became a grandfather and in 2016 the three generations enjoyed a spectacular trip to the Canadian Rockies.  He attended his 50th high school reunion in his hometown of Jacksonville, IL and came together with his family and his sister Susan’s family to help his mother celebrate her 100th birthday in Miami, FL.  He took three-year-old Gwen on her first fishing trip in 2017 and Toby on his in 2020.

Once John was diagnosed with bile duct cancer, the plan became to move to Michigan to be closer to his son, daughter-in-law Rebecca and grandkids. In the last few years, John and Sandra celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Nova Scotia, downsized, had a home built, moved to Canton, Michigan, settled into their new house, relearned the Mile-Roads of the Detroit Area and had many hugs and wet kisses from Gwen and Toby. As John said, “Grandkids are better than mountains.” His is a life we celebrate, a life that was full and well-lived.

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Like a sandcastle, all is temporary. Build it, tend it, enjoy it.

And when the time comes, let it go.
- Jack Kornfield
 

John L. Wright

- Born July 15th, 1943 in Bloomington, Il. 

- Died December 14th, 2020 at the age of 77 due to complications from bile duct cancer. 

- Husband to Sandra, father to Zachary, father-in-law to Rebecca, brother to Susan Van Dusen, uncle to Nathan and Stephen Van Dusen, and grandfather to Gwendolyn and Tobias. 

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Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

                                                   -Kahlil Gibran