Robert H. Wright

Robert H. Wright, PhD, 85, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and uncle passed away at home in Dothan on Saturday, February 10, 2018. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 2 pm at First United Methodist Church with Rev. Allie Freeman officiating. Burial will follow in Sunset Memorial Park with Robert Byrd directing. Family will receive friends at the church from 1-2 pm on the day of the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First United Methodist Church "We Care" Group, 1380 West Main Street, Dothan, AL 36301. Robert was born on July 25, 1932 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He attended Rose Polytechnic Institute and Indiana University to earn his undergraduate degree, George Washington University in St Louis to earn his master's degree and Purdue University in Lafayette, IN to earn his doctorate degree. Robert enlisted in the Army after graduation and was stationed in Puerto Rico where he met his wife of 63 years, Giovanna Rocafort Wright. After he was discharged from the Army, Robert worked for 40 years in the field of aviation designing and developing state of the art control systems, night vision systems, target designators and helicopter simulators. Most of his career, he worked for the Army at Fort Rucker except for 1 ½ years working for North American Rockwell, Autonetics division in Anaheim, CA and 5 years at NASA Ames Research Center in Palo Alto, California. He was considered a worldwide expert at designing human/machine control interfaces and delivered numerous papers on the subject at international conferences. Survivors include his wife, Giovanna Wright; his sister, Joy Suttle (Indianapolis, IN); his daughter and son-in-law, Lynne Wright and Brad Wilson (Fairhope, AL); his son and daughter-in-law, Douglas and Teresa Bufford Wright (Orange Park, FL); his grandchildren, Lauren Papke (Orange Park, FL), Miranda Wilson (Boston, MA) and Kyle Wilson (Fairhope, AL); his great grandsons, Aidan and Coen Papke (Orange Park, FL); and numerous nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 2 pm at First United Methodist Church with Rev. Allie Freeman officiating. Burial will follow in Sunset Memorial Park with Robert Byrd directing. Family will receive friends at the church from 1-2 pm on the day of the service.