John Paul Wright

John Paul Wright, devoted husband and father, died peacefully at home on September 24, 2024 at age 61 in Houston, Texas with his loving family by his side after a courageous six-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Born August 10, 1963 in Orlando, Florida to Thomas Kenneth Wright, Jr. and Jane Waits Wright, he was known by Johnny in his early years. He grew up on the east coast of Florida in the small town of Indialantic. Along with his two older brothers, Richard and Ken, he loved the outdoors, spending many days swimming, surfing, water skiing, and fishing. The family moved to Merritt Island, Florida in the late 70's. Summers were spent exploring the northern Bahamas on the family's boat, Solo. John often said how lucky he was to have had these incredible adventures with his family creating lifelong memories. He graduated from Satellite High School in 1982. With both of his brothers attending the University of Florida, John became a huge fan of the Gators, and when it came time to choose a college, there was only one choice. John was accepted into the College of Engineering and earned a degree in Computer Science with honors. As a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, he made many lifelong friends and listened to a lot of rock music. John loved college football and spent many Saturdays with friends and family attending or watching Gator games. John graduated in the spring of 1987 and accepted a job with IBM in Boca Raton, Florida as a programmer in the PC division. He made significant contributions to the DOS 4.0 and OS/2 operating systems and to the PS/1 home computer. He left IBM in 1991 to become a consultant with various companies developing PC software. It was during this time while working and living in the Orlando area that John met the love of his life, Jacqueline Michele Looney. They became engaged and not long after, in the summer of 1996, followed Jacqueline's job to Houston, Texas. What was to be a brief time in Houston turned into a new home. Married on Valentine’s Day in 1998, they were blessed with two daughters, Nicole and Jessica. Once in Houston, John continued as a software development consultant with various companies. In 2001, he accepted a position with one of his clients, Vacations To Go. John oversaw all IT aspects of the business as it rapidly grew for several years and was promoted to CIO. He retired from the company at the end of 2015. John's dad once observed that John's one true hobby was his family. John was a devoted husband and loving father. Raising his daughters with his wife, Jacqueline, brought him the happiest times of his life. Many weekends were spent helping with the kid’s activities, and countless evenings were spent attending dance recitals. He was always there to help with homework, even learning calculus again to help Jessica during COVID. John always loved a challenge, and was known for barefoot water skiing, cliff diving, and racing his dream Porsche. Growing up, he was a black-diamond snow skier, but traded in his skis when Nicole wanted to learn to snowboard. John loved to travel and took the family on many vacations. There were too many cruises to count, yearly snow skiing trips, visits to family (especially over Thanksgiving), one eventful RV trip, and many more travels. John is survived by his wife of 26 years, Jacqueline Looney Wright; his two daughters, Nicole Michele and Jessica Nancy Wright; his parents, Thomas Kenneth Wright, Jr. and Jane Waits Wright; his in-laws, Billy Jack and Mary Lou Looney; his brother and wife, Richard Carl and Mary Stiles Wright; his sister-in-law, Julie Sharon Glass; his best friend, Todd Mark Hamrick; his nephew and nieces, Connor Jorden, Erin Christine, Kelly Marie, and Sarah Elizabeth Wright and her husband Carter Rhodes Woolly; and his adoring pets. John is preceded in death by his brother, Kenneth Lewis Wright. A celebration of John’s life will be held on October 14th at 11:00 am at Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston, TX. Contributions in John’s memory may be made to the 2024 ALS Association Walk to Defeat ALS: http://web.alsa.org/goto/TheWrightTeam2024.

John Paul Wright

August 10, 1963 - September 24, 2024