Mr. Walter Whittier (“Whitt”) Wright: Obituary

Walter Whittier (“Whitt”) Wright was born in Atlanta on June 2, 1924, and died peacefully in his home in the North Georgia Mountains on August 30, 2016. He was a fourth generation Atlanta native. His paternal great-grandfather, Josiah Ivy Wright, a lawyer from East Tennessee, had moved here in 1871 after the Civil War. Whitt’s grandfather, James Oliver Wright, married into another prominent Atlanta family, the Maxwell Berrys. They had moved to Atlanta in 1854, had withstood Sherman’s invasion, living in the yard while the Yankee officers occupied their house, and later helped to rebuild the city. James married Francis (“Fannie”) Adeline Berry in 1889, and their son, Douglas Berry Wright married Gertrude Whittier of Chattahoochee, Georgia in 1923. Douglas built a fieldstone house on a wooded lot on West Andrews Drive where they raised their five children.

Whitt, their first son, graduated from North Fulton High School and attended Vanderbilt University, studying physics, until WWII intervened. Through the Navy’s V-12 program, he attended Sewanee, Bowdoin, MIT, and the Naval Academy at Annapolis before returning to Vanderbilt to graduate.  After a post-graduate program in mathematics at the University of Virginia, he earned his Masters Degree in electrical engineering at Georgia Tech.

He worked as an electronics engineer for Scientific Atlanta before starting two companies of his own, RMS and Systerm. He also held a position on the board of Georgia Freezer until he retired.

In 1948, he married Sena Arnold of Washington, D.C. They raised their three children in Ansley Park and at Tate Mountain Estates, near Jasper, Georgia. They were members of the Cathedral of St. Philip, the Piedmont Driving Club, and Whitt was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. In 2000, Whitt and Sena moved to the Wilmington River district of Savannah. They became members of St. John’s Episcopal Church and the Oglethorpe Club.

After Sena’s death in 2009, Whitt moved to Tate Mountain Estates to live out his days. He had been a prominent force in the Tate Mountain Community, serving as President four times. In addition to his business acumen, he volunteered his engineering expertise and is remembered for his help in building the two tennis courts, the Pavilion, repairing the Gym, the Boat House, Bridge and Dock. He is especially loved for his detailed history of the place entitled Tate: the First Sixty Years, 1930-1990.

Whitt was pre-deceased by two of his siblings, Oliver and Miriam Wright Kiser. He is survived by his sister, Emily Wright Cumming (Joe) of Atlanta and his brother James Wright (Emily B.) of Sequatchie Cove, TN; by his three children, Madeline Wright Kytle of St. Simon’s Island, GA, Louellen Wright Murray (Tim) of Lake Forest, IL, Whittier Arnold Wright (Erin) of Tate Mountain; also by his six grandchildren, Beth Kytle Chandler (Zeb), Richard Kytle (Lulu), Patrick, Philip (Anna) and Eleanor Murray, and Nigel Wright; and by three great-granddaughters, Coral and Iris Murray, and Clara Chandler.

A memorial service will be held September 24th, from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at the Pavilion at Tate Mountain Estates.  Any charitable donations should be made to:

The Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center
175 Samaritan Drive
Jasper, GA  30143

Arrangements are entrusted to the staff of Roper Funeral Home & Crematory in Jasper, Georgia.

Online condolences can be made at www.roperfuneralhome.com.