Aubrey Wright

Aubrey “Red” Wright was born on February 8, 1925, to William Henry Wright and Lucy Maude Hubbard in Chatham, Virginia. Red’s earliest memories are of growing up in Newark living with his father on West Kinney and Prince Street and spending his summers with his siblings and paternal grandparents in Virginia. His grandmother, Emma Brown, a midwife who was well-respected across color lines in her community, had a special place in his heart.

Red left school in the sixth grade and left home soon after at 14, eventually joining the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1943, he was drafted into WWII. Departing for Europe on the SS George Washington, he spent three years transporting supplies to troops while serving in the Red Ball Express. In 1946, he returned to America on the SS Explorer. Immediately upon returning, he threw his medals in the ocean and decided to never drive again.

As a young man back in Newark, Red held various odd jobs, including lugging meat for butchers' shops and setting up the pins at a local bowling alley. Although most of his entertaining stories came from this time in his life spent on “the hill,” he grew tired of running from the police and a growing list of enemies. He eventually packed his things and caught the bus heading to north Newark to start over. This decision would mark the beginning of our family’s history.

Shortly after relocating to the north ward in 1958, Red accompanied a friend who gave two young women a ride in his car. One of the women playfully warned him to “stop messing” with her sister. Her sister was Allene Croom, who he nicknamed his Sweet Pea, and this chance meeting was the start of their nearly 70-year union. The young couple moved around while growing their family before settling at 153 Park Street in East Orange after having their seventh and last child in 1967. Affectionately known as “153,” four generations of our family and countless others made this house their home, safe space, and/or place of refuge for nearly 35 years until the family sold it in 2001.

Red and Sweet Pea eventually relocated to PineRidge of Montclair in 2004, where they built a new loving community of friends and neighbors. Their apartment continued to serve as a safe place and home base for their loved ones for another 20 years.  

Aubrey Wright (aka daddy, baldie, Reddy boy, uncle daddy, pa Wright, meanie, pop pop, gramps, Big Red, etc.) leaves behind a lasting legacy survived by his loving wife, 6 children and their spouses, Alphonso “David” Croom and his wife Susan, Aubrenia Wright, Anthony Wright, Alicia Rhame and her husband Gregory, Alivia Wright and her husband James, and Adrian Wright and his wife Mikaelia, 14 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren . He was predeceased by his parents, his siblings, and his daughter, Angela Wright. He shared a special bond with his granddaughter and caretaker Alaina Thomas, who he described jokingly as “his doctor, lawyer, banker, and mother.”

Red will always be remembered for his charm, quick wit and epic stories. Most importantly, we will remember him for his big heart and genuine spirit that left a lasting, usually positive, impression on everyone he met. Aubrey Wright truly is the definition of what it means to be a man, and his legacy will live on well beyond his time on this earth.

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