Charles Lloyd "Pete" Wyrick, Jr.

Charles Lloyd "Pete" Wyrick of Charleston, South Carolina, husband of Constance Hooper Wyrick died on August 5, 2022 at the age of 83 leaving a loving family, wonderful friends and a legacy of life-long support of the artistic and literary arts as vital parts of our community life.

Known throughout his life as "Pete", he was in turn an educator, museum director, photographer, artist, musician, sportsman, historic perservationist, writer, editor, publisher and often more than one of these things at a time. 

Born in May of 1939 and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, Pete was the eldest son of Charles Lloyd Wyrick and Edythe Ellis Wyrick. He graduated from Indian Springs School in Birmingham, Alabama (1957); Davidson College (1961); The University of North Carolina (1964) and continued his pre-doctoral studies at the University of Missouri while serving on the faculty of Stephens College in Columbia Missouri. 

A member of the ROTC throughout college, Pete served a 4 year term of duty in Army Intelligence at Fort Holabird (Maryland) and Fort Bragg (North Carolina).

Throughout the 1970s and 1980's , he served in arts administration at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; as Director of the Delaware Art Museum ( Wilmington, Delaware) and the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston. During his tenure he was selected for membership in the Art Museum Directors Association of America, and represented the United States in cultural exchanges with China and Costa Rica. 
 
An intrepid writer, art and architecture critic for the Richmond Times Dispatch, and award-winning poet, he increasingly focused his career on literary pursuits and in the 1980s acquired and edited Poor William's Omnibus a "slightly irreverent" monthly newspaper and founded Wyrick & Company, a Charleston-based book publishing enterprise that specialized in Southern authors, artists and food cultures, and brought together the skills of many talented writers, editors, designers and book production specialists. The company, established in 1986 was acquired in 2005 by Gibbes Smith Publishers of Utah.

An enthusiastic supporter of the unique character of the Carolina Lowcountry, Pete served multiple terms and as Chairman of the City of Charleston's Board of Architectural Review; was a founding member and first President of the South Carolina Coastal Carolina Conservation League (1989-1995); and a tireless fundraiser for numerous non-profit organizations. 

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Connie, sons Charles (Katherine) of Little Rock Arkansas, Christopher (Sandi) of Los Angeles, California; grandchildren Charles Harrison, Helen Constance, and Silas McSween; brother Louis , sister Melinda Ogburn (Jim) and many cousins, nephews and nieces.

Memorial services and entombment will take place in the fall of this year at First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina.  

Memorial contributions in his memory to the S.C. Coastal Conservation League (nancya@sccl.org); Gibbes Museum of Art (jross@GibbsMuseum.org); Historic Charleston Foundation (HistoricCharleston.org) or the American Heart Association (Heart.org/lowcountry contributions) would be greatly appreciated.

Pete was an accomplished, erudite man of wit, charm and spirit who will be greatly missed.

Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Downtown Chapel.

A memorial message may be sent to the family by visiting our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com.