Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Caleb Cresson III WISTAR
Caleb Cresson Wistar III, 93, of Lafayette Hill, a Unisys Corp. procurement specialist and a descendant of the Wistar Institute's founders, died in his sleep Thursday, April 2, of causes related to aging at the Hill at Whitemarsh.
The family is descended from Caspar Wistar, a Philadelphian who in 1808 became chair of the department of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Caspar Wistar's great-nephew Isaac Jones Wistar was a prominent Philadelphia lawyer and Civil War brigadier general. Isaac Wistar dreamed of a center for biological and medical research, paving the way for the institute, according to its history. In the 1950s, the institute became a leader in vaccine research.
Mr. Wistar honored his ancestry by supporting the institute, the Wistar Rose Association, and Friends of the Wistar Institute. He led numerous tours of the institute for friends and relatives.
Born in Chestnut Hill, he was the son of Caleb Cresson Wistar Jr. and Rebecca Lycett Wistar Halsey.
Mr. Wistar, known to friends as "Cress," graduated in 1939 from St. George's School in Middletown, R.I. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1943 and joined the Army Medical Corps with the rank of corporal. He served in Europe during World War II from 1943 to 1945.
After the war, he worked for the Burroughs Corp., later part of Unisys, as a procurement specialist, primarily obtaining government contracts. In 1966, as part of that assignment, he served a year in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, a military installation and nuclear bunker in Colorado Springs, Colo.
While there, Mr. Wistar helped the Air Force and other government agencies use the then-new NORAD system. NORAD monitored U.S. and Canadian airspace for hostile missiles, space systems, and foreign aircraft through an early-warning system developed by Burroughs. He retired in 1986.
One pillar of Mr. Wister's life was his Christian faith. He was active in the Episcopal Church, especially at the Church of the Messiah in Lower Gwynedd.
Another pillar was his large family, which he tended, along with his small Blue Bell farm with its gardens, surrounding fields, and assorted dogs and cats on whom he doted. The 10-acre farm seven miles from Philadelphia is now the Deerfield Estates development.
His son, Caleb C. IV, described his father as "quiet, funny, and intellectual in an understated way."
He married Ailsa F. Wistar in 1952. She died in 2007.
After a period of time, he became the companion of a distant cousin, Caroline "Bobbie" Wistar.
Besides his son and companion, he is survived by three other sons, Stephen M., Gilbert M., and James B.; a daughter, Ailsa W. Johnson; and 10 grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 9, at the Church of the Messiah, 1001 DeKalb Pike, Lower Gwynedd, Pa. 19002. Mr. Wistar donated his body to science.
Contributions may be made to the church at the address above, or to the Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St., Philadelphia 19104.
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