Ardill Wright Jr., a Pearl Harbor survivor for whom Kent’s top baseball field is named, passed away at age 90 at his Kent home on May 25.
Wright, a native of Atoka, Okla., was born on March 15, 1920 and lived in Oklahoma until enlisting in the U.S. Navy in Wichita Falls, Texas, on Feb. 14, 1940.
Wright was aboard the U.S.S. Raleigh anchored at Pearl Harbor when it was damaged during the Japanese attack on Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. He was sitting below deck drinking a cup of coffee when a torpedo struck 25 feet below him, sending him flying into the air. Once the raid ended, Wright helped in the rescue of trapped sailors. The Raleigh was subsequently repaired, and Wright remained stationed aboard it until the war’s conclusion in 1945.
The American Legion life member of Kent Post 15 lived in the Seattle area since his discharge from the Navy in 1946, moving to Kent in 1956 and co-founding the highly successful Kent American Legion baseball program in 1961. He served as the team manager into the 1990s and ran the concessions stand at Kent Memorial Park until 2004. In 2003, the main diamond at Kent Memorial Park was renamed Art Wright Field, and he was also proclaimed 2003 Kent Kiwanis Citizen of the Year.
His wife of 59 years, the former Gladys Johnston, preceded him in death in 2003. Art has three sons (Joe Albright of Renton, Ardill III of Mossyrock and Shannon of Auburn), plus numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for noon June 1 at Marlatt Mortuary in Kent, with graveside services at 1:30 p.m. at Tahoma National Cemetery.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
