Harry Wight (to the right) and Randy Rouse battle for the lead at Seven-Corners circa 1970s. / Douglas Lees photo
Charles Henry Conley Wight, “Harry,” passed away on May 11, 2015 at INOVA Loudoun Hospital in Virginia. Harry hunted hounds at the Loudoun Hunt starting in 1985 and was appointed MFH in 1990. He retired from hunting hounds in 2001.
His steeplechase racing career spanned over forty years. He won Gentleman Rider titles several seasons, earning his last title at the age of sixty while besting many twenty-year-olds at the game. In 1967, with a committee of the late Dr. Joseph Rogers, S.D. Phillips, and others, he participated in the creation of the first Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point races on the grounds of Oatlands. He managed these races until 2012.
Harry was born in St. Louis, Missouri on July 6, 1932 to the late Daniel Ewing Wight and Helen Abel Conley. He attended Georgetown Prep, Lawrenceville grade school and high school, and Yale, class of 1956. After graduating from Yale—he was captain of the cross-country running team—Harry became a full LT Navy pilot, running reconnaissance photo missions off of carriers for six years. After his military tour, he moved to North Fork, Virginia to open and manage the first Alex Brown and Sons branch investment firm in Leesburg, Virginia. At Brown, his clientele was made up of many from the foxhunting field, land owners, and Washington people who had settled in the area.
A Service in Celebration of Harry Wight’s life will be held on Sunday, August 30, 2015 at 1:00 pm at Murray Hill in Leesburg. (www.murrayhillevents.com)
Memorial contributions may be donated to the National Park Service. The physical address to send checks is: National Park Service, Attn: Robin Nixon, 900 Ohio St NW, Washington DC 20004.
Posted July 8, 2015