Obituary of John R Wyllie

John R. Wyllie, 88, a lifelong advocate for vocational education and New Jersey's former Special Needs Bureau Director for the Department of Vocational Education succumbed to a heart attack on November 30 at his home in Lawrence Township. Born in Kearny, New Jersey on Jan. 5, 1920 Wyllie was educated at Newark College of Engineering and Seton Hall University. Prior to WWII he was employed by the Prudential Insurance Company and U.S. Tool Company. Answering his nation's call, he served as a technical sergeant while serving in the Philippines and occupied Japan at the end of WWII. There, he gained his first exposure to teaching. Following the war he pursued a teaching credential and taught from 1950-1963 at Irvington Technical High School in Irvington, New Jersey. At the same time he created the school's first soccer team and guided that team from a winless side in 1950 into a two-time state champion. Through his efforts Irvington Tech became the first vocational high school to win a New Jersey state championship in any sport. In the summer of 1963 he began a ten-year stint in Trenton working for the New Jersey Department of Vocational Education in the Special Needs Bureau. While there, he piloted a number of innovative programs including cooperative education and the use of mobile training trailers which traversed the state introducing students to the possibilities of vocational education. He spent the following nine years serving as the principal of Perth Amboy Technical High School retiring in 1982. Wyllie was preceded in death by his father John Wyllie and his mother Ruth Hendry Wyllie. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Doris Wyllie, his daughter Nancy Hustak and her husband Dr. Thomas Hustak, son Thomas Wyllie and his wife Donna Wyllie, son John Philip Wyllie and his wife Bonnie Wyllie as well as grandchildren Tara Davis and her husband Scott Davis, Keith Hustak and his wife Melissa Hustak and Dr. Erik Hustak and his wife Dr. Kristi Hustak, Scott Wyllie and Meagan Wyllie. He also had one great-grandchild, Paige Davis. Wyllie was laid to rest on Dec. 5 at Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, New Jersey.