David Wright Sr.

David C. Wright Sr., 77, passed peacefully on March 24, 2026, at Kaplan Family Hospice House with his family by his side. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Elizabeth E. “Liz” (Sutherland) Wright. He was devoted to her and she to him.

Dave was born in Framingham on Aug. 18, 1948, to the late Donald G. and T. Joan (Evans) Wright, the second of five children.

Dave grew up in Hopkinton before moving with his family to Gloucester. When he was younger, he enjoyed riding his bike, playing baseball and spending time with family, including many aunts, uncles and cousins who lived in the immediate area. As a teenager and beyond in Gloucester, he enjoyed playing cards, working on cars, betting on anything and everything with his friends, and maybe a little “light” racing in his ’57 Chevy. He was a graduate of Gloucester High School Class of 1966.

Dave was drafted into the Army in July 1968 and served his country during the Vietnam War from 1968-70. He was a member of the 199th Infantry, his rank was SP4 and he served as a radio operator. Dave was enormously proud of his service, although like other Vietnam veterans he did not speak often of his time overseas.

After his honorable discharge from the Army, Dave returned to Gloucester and married Liz in April 1971. He also began his 20-plus-year career with New England Telephone in installation and repair, then moved to Yellow Pages sales and ended his career as a second-level sales manager in sales training with NYNEX. Upon retirement, he was not ready to just putter around the house, so he went to work at R.B. Strong and then became a part-time delivery driver for Nor’east Cleaners, where he enjoyed chatting with the customers on his route. Dave was a very sociable person and loved to strike up conversations with those he knew and even those he did not.

Dave was a dedicated and loving family man who made it to most if not all school events, ballet recitals, sports games and/or practices for all three of his children, always on the sidelines, sometimes in his suit, having come straight from work. He was a diehard New England sports fan, and he brought that love and enthusiasm for sports into helping as an assistant coach when his young son began playing peewee football, Little League Baseball and Babe Ruth baseball. He continued helping after his son moved on to high school. He was immensely proud of his grandsons and loved hearing what they were interested in and how school was going. Dave loved the summer months, being outside and enjoying the sun whenever possible. He took great pride in maintaining his home, yard and cars. He enjoyed the beach and later his pool after work and on weekends, walking his dogs, as well as vacations to Disney World and Scottsdale, Arizona, to visit his son and daughter-in-law.

Along with his parents, Dave was preceded in death by siblings James L. Wright, Linda E. Wright and Gordon E. Wright; brother-in-law William R. Lewis Sr.; father-in-law John “Let” Sutherland; and mother-in-law Natalie W. (Grant) Sutherland.

In addition to his wife, Liz, he is survived by his children, David C. Wright, Jr. and wife Christine of Scottsdale, Arizona, Tracy R. (Wright) Shea and husband Tim of Ipswich, and Kelly A. (Wright) Sechrist of Gloucester; grandsons Ryan and Eric Shea and Joshua and Benjamin Sechrist; sister Carol J. (Wright) Lewis of Beverly; nephew William R. Lewis Jr. and wife Julie of Ellicott City, Maryland; as well as many cousins and friends near and far.

The family would like to thank the doctors and nurses of the CCU at Beverly Hospital, including Dr. Blessing Phinney (a wonderful compassionate professional). We also want to express our sincere gratitude to all the nurses and caregivers at the Kaplan Family Hospice House. You are all utterly amazing, caring individuals who made Dave’s last days calm, peaceful and comfortable for him, his family and friends.

Services will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Dave’s honor to the Care Dimensions Kaplan Family Hospice House, 75 Sylvan Street, Suite B-102, Danvers, MA 01923 (caredimensions.org) or Cape Ann Animal Aid, 4 Paws Lane, Gloucester, MA 01930 (capeannanimalaid.org).

Obituaries are submissions, typically from funeral homes, that are not subject to the same level of editorial oversight as the rest of the Hopkinton Independent. Obituaries may be edited for grammatical and factual mistakes and clarifications and shortened for space considerations.