Dennis Robert Wright

He was born in Belleville, Kansas, on December 1, 1944, to Evelyn and Robert Wright, and raised in Concordia, KS, by his mother, Evelyn Wright, and her sister Grace Ott, originally from Huscher, KS, the namesake founding family from whom they are directly descended.

In high school, Dennis worked at the Full Service Gas Station at the corner of 11th Street and Lincoln, and the Burlington Railroad, where he helped build the railway crossing the Republican River. As Dennis told it, he “almost accidentally cut his foot off with an axe”, which led him back to his former job at the gas station. He talked often of his classmates growing up in Concordia, as they were like family to him, recalling detailed stories that portrayed his formative years as a time when kids still ran the streets with delightful abandon.

Dennis graduated from Concordia High School in 1962, then attended KSU in Manhattan, KS. He then served in Vietnam, as he was drafted by the Navy to basic training in San Diego, California. After basic training, Dennis resided in Tennessee and Florida, and finally, after being discharged, back to California, as he was passionate about the Pacific coastline and the ominous giant sequoias forests.

After several in-state moves, first working for the California State Forestry, Dennis secured his dream job as a California State Park Ranger, and was granted the seemingly unattainable residency of living virtually feet from the ocean’s door, literally his dream come true, at Refugio State Beach, approximately 20 miles north of Santa Barbara. He was employed as a State Park Ranger from 1974 to 2000.

Dennis was a diving dynamo and always put on a show for the locals when he came to visit his children, mother Evelyn, and aunt Grace in Concordia, KS. As told to me by one of his cousins, his command of the English language has always been outstanding—a Huscher trait—and his stories about Concordia and Cloud County history always a marvel to behold. Dennis had a keen interest in family history, and was a member of the Cloud County Genealogical Society.

Dennis is survived by his three children: Kevin Wright, Oxnard, CA; Stacie Wright-Paraskos (Alex Paraskos), Sparta, NJ; and Shannan (Shawna) Wright, Olathe, KS; by his former wife, their mother, Trish (Cherney) Bishop, Concordia, KS; by his half-sister Cher Wright, Concordia, KS; and he leaves behind seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life service will be announced. Condolences may be sent online to Neptune Society Funeral Home (Thousand Oaks locations), Memorial contributions may be made to the California State Parks Foundation at https://act.calparks.org/a/donate?ms=abovefooter or, to the Sequoia Youth Scholarship https://www.sequoiashuttle.com/sequoia-youth-scholarship.