Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409260032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Short
She had been there when it was dedicated the first time, in 1969. She had known Wysor through her husband when they both worked for Allied Chemical Co.
Dublin Elementary School Principal Wallace Bruce had known Wysor, too, after Wysor had the observatory and museum built on the school grounds to house many of the rocks, photos and other items he had accumulated.
"He had a great appetite for learning and he enjoyed sharing his wisdom and his knowledge with the children," Bruce said.
Wysor built three astronomical telescopes during his life, the largest being housed in his observatory until it fell from its mount several years ago and broke.
Nobody knew how to fix it until representatives of Honeywell Industries, which is doing an energy management program for the Pulaski County school system, volunteered to take on the project.
The telescope was dismantled from where it had been on display in the museum part of the building, and sent to Minneapolis where Honeywell avionics division employee Bob Curran oversaw its repairs.
Curran, an astronomy enthusiast who built his first telescope at age 14, presented a star atlas from Honeywell to observatory curator Rick Fisher for use in the facility.
Wysor, a Dublin native who died in 1982 at the age of 93, decided at age 12 that he wanted to be a geologist, Bruce said. In 1910, he became Virginia Tech's first graduate in the field of applied geology, "and he said for the rest of his life he was involved in chasing rocks," Bruce said.|
by CNB