Willard R. Wigley Jr. ’42

W. Robert Wigley died Feb. 13, 2011, in Dallas, Texas.

Bob was born in Waco, Texas, and prepped at Andover. At Princeton he played on the freshman golf team, joined Dial Lodge, and majored in economics. He graduated with high honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  

As the United States entered World War II, Bob initially became a tower operator at an air base in Corsicana, Texas. He then joined the Army Air Corps and was appointed an instructor of aspirant pilots at the Army air base in Waco, where he won repeated awards for competence in his field. When the war ended he was discharged as a sergeant.

In 1946, Bob married Jerry McDonald and they settled in Dallas. Initially he worked for Clint Murchison. He then joined the brokerage firm E.F. Hutton & Co. and rose from trainee to vice chairman. The brilliance that had become evident at Princeton continued through Bob’s Army and business careers and led to   appointments such as governor of the New York Stock Exchange.  

Bob’s wife and daughters Sherry Susanne and Karen Grace predeceased him. He is survived by his daughter, Florence Elisa Wigley, and two grandchildren, to whom the class sends sympathy.