Cameron S. Wright

Cameron Scott Wright, 50, of Conway, South Carolina passed away Sunday afternoon, July 21st, 2019, at Embrace Hospice House of Myrtle Beach, SC, after a long battle with esophageal cancer. He was surrounded at his passing by loving friends and his beloved wife, Jana.

Cameron was born August 14th, 1968 in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. He was preceded in passing by his father, Kenneth Cameron Wright, his mother, Marlene Jean Spencer Wright, his paternal uncle, John Wright, his cousin Michael Spencer, and by his longtime friend Collin "Theo" Kennedy, who lost his own battle with cancer in December 2018.

Cameron is survived by his wife, Jana Marie Morton Wright; sister, Heather Wright-Barber of Chapel Hill, NC (with husband Matthew Barber and children Adam, Samantha, and Sydney); maternal aunts, Irene McIntyre of Courtenay, British Columbia and Kay Harrison of Richmond, British Columbia; maternal uncle, Bud Spencer (wife Janet) of Calgary, Alberta; Bob Spencer (wife Cathy) of Saskatchewan, and several cousins. He is also survived by his father in law, Jim Morton; mother in law, Edna "Sweet" Morton; brother in law, Jamie Morton; sister in law, Gail Morton; and nephews Jay and Eric Morton. Along with family, Cameron is also survived by many many loving and supportive friends, as well as by his and Jana's fur kids: rescue pups Emma and Annie, and adopted cats Phantom, Tonks, Norbert, Caspen, Athena, and Cameron's special "baby girl," Zoe.

Cameron met his wife, Jana, in 1995 on Compuserve (an online community similar to AOL back in the day). He was living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she in Conway, SC. They met in the Science Fiction/Fantasy Literature forum, specifically the Pern Fandom section (Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey). They shared a love of McCaffrey's books and both wrote fan fiction. On July 24th, 1995 Cameron flew to Myrtle Beach to meet Jana in person and to ride with her to Maryland to a Gathering of other members of the Pern fandom forum. The rest, as they say, is history. They were married on July 24th, 1996, one year to the day after they met in person. "Back then" in the mid-90's it was practically unheard of for people to meet online and eventually get married. Jana and Cameron were a perfect match. Cameron was outgoing, had a strong personality, and was a huge talker while Jana is more laid back, quiet, and shy at first. She always leaned on him to take the lead in social gatherings.

In addition to Cameron's incredible love of books and reading, he had a great passion for teaching.  Cameron dropped out of high school, but he later returned to get the Canadian equivalent of a GED. He then went on to the University of Winnipeg where he received his Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History & Philosophy. It was then he decided to pursue a career in teaching. He received his Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba. After graduating, he learned that English teachers were a critical need back in Jana's home state of South Carolina. So in the summer of 1999, Cameron and Jana moved to Conway. Cameron got his first teaching job at Myrtle Beach High School, where he taught for several years before moving on to become an Adjunct Professor of English at Horry Georgetown Technical College, with a brief teaching position at Marion High School in 2016/17. In 2012 he received his Master of Arts Degree in Writing at Coastal Carolina University. After Cameron's cancer diagnosis in 2018, Horry Georgetown Technical College gave him the "Adjunct Professor of the Year" award for his many years of service and excellence in teaching.

Cameron never lost his great love of his home country of Canada, but he felt an increased connection to his adopted country. During the attacks of September 11, 2001, Cameron was teaching at Myrtle Beach High School at the time, and experiencing the attack, even at a distance, with his students seemed to change things for him.  And so on September 18, 2006 Cameron became a United States citizen. He even wrote an article for the Sun News newspaper about that 9/11 experience with his students titled "The Day I Became a US Citizen".

Cameron often reflected that it was Jana that changed his views of pet ownership and the responsibilities that entails. Jana is passionate about animal welfare and rescue and by her example he became the same. Through their 23 years together, they adopted and cared for many pets. Most of these were cats, as Cameron was "not a dog person" -- until, that is, a shelter rescue dog named Sasha came into their lives. He still liked to say he was a "Sasha person, not a dog person", but we all knew better, and the love he showed to the new pups Emma and Annie proved that Cameron was a dog person after all.

Through the years, Cameron has touched and changed many lives, from old friends back in Winnipeg, to family, to students he's taught over the years, to new friends he made here in SC, across the country and world, thanks to social media. He is loved by many and will be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a donation to one of the following charities of your choice - any cancer research, ALS research (as both of his parents passed because of ALS), or your local animal shelter.

A memorial/celebration of life will be held for Cameron at Burroughs Funeral Home, in Murrells Inlet, SC on August 24th, 2019 at 2pm. It will be a public service so all are welcome to attend as well as speak. 

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.