Obituary

William Paul Wright, 11/22/1927 to 4/16/2015

William "Bill" Paul Wright age 87 of Florence passed away on Thursday, April 16, 2015. Visitation will be Sunday, April 19, 2015 from Noon till 2:00 P.M. at Elkins Funeral Home of Florence with services in the chapel at 2:00 P.M. with Dr. Billy Cagle and Rev. Jerry Hastings officiating. Burial will be at Wesley Chapel Cemetery. Pallbearers will be family and friends

Born in Memphis, Tennessee to Howard Woodward Wright and Norma Inez Scharnagel Wright, Bill Wright is survived by his wife, Mildred Anne Speegle Wright, his two sons, Paul Howard Wright and William Neal Wright, and his four grandchildren, Thomas William Wright, Andrew Sims Wright, Ana Katharina Wright, and Nathanael Evan Wright.

Bill grew up in Lauderdale County, Alabama, at Dr Stutt''s farm and his grandfather Dr Elbert Bascome Wright''s dairy farm near St Florian. Around 1936, his family bought the historic Armistead Plantation on Savannah Highway.

From preschool age, he helped in all the chores at his father''s dairy farms. He attended Margaret Darby's kindergarten, and the new Kilby Training School.

As a teenager, Bill bought a tractor and earned money plowing the fields of local farmers who were serving in the war. He attended Central High School, drove the school bus, and built his first hot rod.

In 1946, Bill was drafted into the Army and chosen for training in Cooper Hill, Colorado as a ski trooper. This instilled in him a lifelong love for snow skiing, one he would share with his friends and family for decades.

After his discharge, Bill attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn, Alabama. There he earned a Bachelor''s in Mechanical Engineering. He was then accepted at the prestigious Chrysler School of Engineering in Detroit, Michigan in 1953, where he earned a Master''s of Automotive Engineering. He became an integral part of Chrysler''s engine research and development, including the early Hemi engines, and the gas turbine car engine. He spent weekends racing on Woodward Avenue, or skiing with friends in Ontario. There he also found a love for stock car racing.

In 1956, Chrysler transferred Bill to its new Missile Division in Huntsville, Alabama. There, he was privileged to be an integral part of the birth of America''s space program, from the Jupiter to the Saturn V. Dr Wernher von Braun was among the many excellent men and women he worked with during that time. There he met his wife, Mildred Anne Speegle.

By 1969, Chrysler''s rocket program was winding down, and Bill used the resources available in his testing lab to develop Dodge''s latest entry into NASCAR, the unbeatable Dodge Charger Daytona. This was the first stock car to break 200 mph on a closed track, and it was one of his proudest achievements.

After leaving Chrysler in 1972, Bill went into the family''s antique business, and began selling oriental rugs. He enjoyed meeting people from all over the region through his business. Many came to admire Bill as much as the rugs he sold.

He was baptized at Wesley Chapel UMC in Central Heights, his ancestral church.