Frank Andrea Wright, 84, of Weaverville, and a former resident of Bryson City, passed away Sunday, February 17, 2008.

Frank loved people and was very kind and generous.  He never met a stranger in his life and would talk the ears off of anyone he came into contact with.  He had a very interesting life and was a captivating storyteller.  However, his greatest attribute was his wonderful sense of humor, which he kept until the very end.  Oh, how he made us laugh…”and what not”.

            Frank was born on December 15, 1923 in Bryson City to Lee Andrea and Fannie Carringer Wright.  He also was preceded in death by a brother, Harold L. Wright, and an infant sister, Helen.

            Spending his youth in “Bryson” during the great depression era, and coming from a very athletic family, Frank loved any sport with a ball in it.  He was a year-round athlete at Swain High School and in 2005 was inducted into the Swain County Sports Hall of Fame.  Golf was his lifelong passion.  He also spent many days fly-fishing on Hazel creek.  After high school, his first job was helping to survey the original boundary for the Fontana Lake shoreline through the rugged mountain terrain of what is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

            He was a World War II veteran serving in the U.S. Army in both the Dixie and Rainbow Divisions in the South Pacific.  He survived six amphibious beach landings – including the islands of New Guinea, Moratie and most notably, participated in the campaign to retake the big island of Mindanao in the Philippines in fulfillment of General Douglas Macarthur’s famous proclamation “I shall return”.

            He is survived by his loving wife of 39 years, Sue Fenwick Wright; daughters, Andrea Wright Taylor of Bryson City and Brenda Kent Arndt and her husband, Bill of Mars Hill; son, Roger Wayne Kent and his wife, Cindy, of Weaverville; grandchildren, Rick Hughes of Bryson City, Joey Hughes and his wife, Cylena, of Bryson City, Billy Arndt and his wife, Erica, of Beech Glen, Jessica A. Cole and her husband, Chad of Mars Hill, Candice K. Phillips and her husband, John of Weaverville and Jennifer Arndt  of Mars Hill; great-grandchildren, Stephanie Smiley and her husband, Josh of Bryson City, Chase Hughes of Bryson City, Natalie Cole of Mars Hill and Jaxon Phillips of Weaverville; great-great-grandchild, Jayden Smiley also of Bryson City; brother, Robert M. Wright of Greensboro and a sister, Frances W. Brown of Glen Burnie, Maryland.

            The family will receive friends from 7:00 until 8:30 PM, Thursday, February 21, 2008 at Morris Funeral Home, 304 Merrimon Avenue.  A funeral service will be held in the Chapel at 3:00 PM, Friday, February 22, 2008.