Robert Lee Wishon Jr. | Raleigh News & Observer

Robert Lee Wishon, Jr., 70, of Cary, passed away on December 20th, 2014 at Duke-Raleigh Hospital following a courageous battle against Bloodstream Lymphoma.

Bob was born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC. After graduation from West Forsyth High School he began his college education at NC State University, then enlisted in the Air Force when the Vietnam War broke out. It was in the Air Force in the late ‘60s that Bob first learned about and worked with ‘the electronic transfer of data’. After his military service, Bob completed his undergraduate degree at Guilford College then earned his Masters Degree at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

Bob began his Accounting career by working with various large corporations but was always an entrepreneur at heart. In 1980 he started his own Tax and Accounting practice which he subsequently grew and morphed, using his Air Force training, into franchised offices operating under the name “ELECTRONIC TAX FILERS®”

Bob was active for many years with the Cary Lions Club, as a Cub Scout Leader and as a volunteer coach for many Cary youth sports. He was also an avid golfer, crediting his first 69 years of good health to “God and 36 holes of golf a week”.

Bob was preceded in death by an infant sister, Joan Marie, and by his parents, Robert Lee Wishon, Sr. and Mary Scales Wishon. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Rachel Patten Wishon, their son Lee Wishon, Lee’s wife Kelly, and two Grandchildren, Benjamin, age 11 and Isabella, age 7, all of Cary, a sister Deborah Wall and her husband Jimmy of Winston-Salem and numerous Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Nephews and Cousins.

Bob’s wish was to be cremated and his ashes scattered at his beloved St. Simons Island, GA. A Memorial Gathering will be held at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home in Cary on Saturday,December 27th, beginning with Visitation at1:00 PM followed by a Celebration Service in their Chapel at 2:00 PM.

The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to: Lymphoma Research Foundation, 115 Broadway, Suite 1301, New York, NY 10006. www.lymphoma.org; or to a Charity of your choice.