William ‘Bill’ Wright, age 86, passed away peacefully at his home in Somerset, Kentucky on March 12th, 2024. He was born on November 20th, 1937 in Flora, Illinois. He was a longtime resident of Salem, IL until moving to Somerset to be near his son, Stephen.
Bill and his brothers had many happy memories of playing along Town Creek near their home on North College Street as a child. He graduated from SCHS in 1955 and attended Centralia Junior College for two years. He then moved to Washington, D.C. where he met and married his wife, Mary Saylor, in 1959. They both worked for the federal government before moving back to his hometown of Salem.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary Saylor Wright, and his son, Stephen (Steve) of Somerset. He is also survived by one brother, John, and his wife, Marilyn, of Salem. Also surviving are four nieces, eight nephews, two brothers-in-law, and one sister-in-law.
He was preceded in death by his son, David, his parents, William and Pearl Thomas Wright, his in-laws, Carlo and Lillie Winstead Saylor, two brothers, Bob and Jim Wright, and two sisters, Joyce Wright Gruman and Judy Wright Bartley.
Visitation and Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, March 23rd, at Grace United Methodist Church in Salem with visitation from 10:00 to 11:30 am followed by Celebration of Life Service from 11:30 until noon. Memorials may be made to Grace Methodist Church or Hospice of Lake Cumberland.
