EULOGY FOR ROBERT WYSONG
Robert Clayton Wysong
World War II Veteran
Distinguished Diplomat
Caring Father & Grandfather
Robert C. Wysong, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, passed away on June 1st, 2015.
He was 92 years old. A fervent patriot, he was a World War II veteran and distinguished diplomat who officially served the country he cherished for many years.
A loving father, spouse, grandfather and great-grandfather, he married Rita Neises 70 years ago, in 1944, when both were in the U.S. military.
What was his life like as a child?
Robert Wysong grew up under harsh, Depression-era conditions in the small town of Marion, Indiana, into a poor working-class family that had its origins in Germany, Scotland and Ireland.
He was an avid life-long learner.
An Eagle Scout, he taught himself dozens of skills, and built himself a major knowledge base about every possible subject the Boy Scouts could throw at you.
All his life, he loved a broad range of simple activities: Walking, observing the outdoors and the stars, fishing, reading, writing poetry and light verse, bird-watching, whistling and singing -- and being with his grandchildren.
But he had another side to him, too.
He was also extraordinarily intellectual. A natural linguist, he amassed a working
knowledge of many languages: Chinese, Swedish, French… and he became fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and classical and functional Arabic dialects.
He entered the Foreign Service -- the U.S. diplomatic corps -- after the War.
In spite of the fact that many people in the Foreign Service had Ivy League degrees, he did not.
Actually, he didn't have a college degree at all.
He took the very difficult Foreign Service test, and aced it, using as his knowledge base all the information he had run across early in his life -- in Boy Scouts, Jr. High and High School, and through his readings.
He had a retentive memory. When he learned something in geography class -- like the cash crop of Venezuela -- he remembered it for life. And could spit it out when asked about it during a test, 20 years later.
He lived all over the world, with his family, serving the United States of America in an elite diplomatic corps of dedicated civil servants.
What were the places he went to?
While in the Foreign Service, he and his family lived in Mexico City; Sao Paulo
Brazil; Jidda, Saudi Arabia; on the Mexican border in Chula Vista California (where he worked at the Tijuana consulate); in Beirut, Lebanon, and in Khartoum, Sudan. He became a proficient Arabic linguist, and was also sent to the Washington, D.C. area, where he worked translating documents and news dispatches from Arabic. When he originally worked in D.C., his family lived in Wheaton, Maryland, starting in the 1960's.
During his Foreign Service career, he achieved the position of American Consul.
But His Achievements Didn't End There…
Eventually he did earn a bachelor's degree -- at the University of Maryland, in 1965, while simultaneously holding down a full-time job at the State Department. After leaving the Foreign Service, he got a master's degree -- at Georgetown University -- in linguistics.
When his children were all nearly grown, he studied for a PhD at Georgetown, and finished his coursework, while teaching at the university. He achieved "all but dissertation" PhD status at Georgetown before having to go back to work -- helping support his family -- at the Records Management Department of
Montgomery County.
After retiring from the county, he volunteered his full-time labor for 20 years as a computer graphic designer and map-maker for Northcountry Communications, an Alaska-based, statewide family owned company.
Though never having used a computer in his entire life, he went against the common wisdom that "older people" struggle with technology.
He took up the graphic design work when he was over 60 years old, and stayed with it until he was over 80, continuing to be a productive, interested and engaged worker -- well past the time most people "retire."
Good at practically everything he tried, Bob Wysong easily learned complex and changing computer technology., while at home in Maryland, submitting his completed documents to Alaska through the internet's then-primitive and grindingly slow modem system.
First and Foremost, Though, Was His Family…
Always tolerant of his children and grandchildren, he was a patient listener,
a dedicated sharer of knowledge, and just plain pleasant to be around.
Our Dad and Grandpa Was A Man Of The Past -- and The Future…
Robert Wysong was an all-American, small-town boy who served his country in World War II, and then continued his service to the United States overseas throughout the world. He lived an exciting, meaningful life -- whether he was roaming the rivers and lakes of Maryland, or dealing with people in other, faraway lands.
His extended family reflects that fact. His family has grown into a multicultural, international family, with new members entering from many countries -- India, Japan and Central America -- showing the continuing, dynamic, changing America of the 21st Century.
