As the sun rose over Angel Island in Sausalito on December 12, 2022, Wingham JH Liddell, Jr., 91, took flight from this world. He passed away of natural causes in his beloved home of 35 years, Wingman’s Perch.

The son of Wingham “Jack” and Belle Liddell, he was born on September 18, 1931 and raised in Oakland, California. A proud Boy Scout, Wing grew up sailing on Lake Merritt and Tomales Bay, sparking a lifetime love of adventure and the outdoors. He possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of the flora, fauna and wildlife of Northern California and was passionate about protecting the environment and animals big and small, including spiders, snakes and even rejected plants which he delighted in rehabilitating.

Wing completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies at UC Berkeley; where, after graduating as a member of the class of 1953, he went on to receive a Master’s Degree in Economics, an MBA and a PhD in Business Administration. In between undergraduate and graduate school, he served in the US Army European Forces as a medic during the Korean War which strongly influenced his deeply-held pacifist beliefs. He traveled the world as a young man - throughout Europe in his Aston Martin or often by sailboat, exchanging his skills as a crewman for transport from place to place.

He spent his 34-year career teaching Business Administration at Sonoma State University until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 2005. Known as a unique and engaging professor, he required his students to subscribe to the Financial Times, using its articles and current events to spark discussion and lively discourse. He aimed to teach practical lessons to help his students succeed in life as well as their professions, maintaining friendships with many of them after graduation.

An avid patron of the arts, Wing belonged to and frequented all of the major art museums in San Francisco and was a season ticket holder at the SF Ballet for 25 years. When he was not racing his 505 on the Bay, you could usually find him running the trails of the Berkeley Hills or Marin County, where he competed in the annual Dipsea race numerous times. He was an ardent advocate for civil rights and equality, participating in many forms of civil disobedience during the McCarthy and Nixon eras. An Academic in every sense of the word, he was incredibly well-read and always surrounded by newspapers, piles of books, papers to grade, and his well-worn dictionary close at hand - NPR or classical music perpetually humming in the background. Big at heart, if ever hard times came upon his students or his daughter’s friends, he was always quick to offer them a room at his house until they were able to get back on their feet.

Perhaps foremost among his achievements, Wing was an amazing father to his daughter Tia, the two sharing a special bond fostered through a lifetime of open communication, patience and acceptance. Close confidants and companions, he encouraged her independence and individuality as a child, inspiring her from a young age to have her own point of view, to boldly challenge societal and cultural norms and look for humor and beauty in the smallest things. He shared with her his love of unconventional travel to remote and foreign lands, taking her on adventures throughout the world. She ultimately gave him the moniker of “Wingman,” which he became known as to most everyone. He was her greatest champion.

Wing’s final years were spent marveling at his young grandsons, Kieran and Cameron. He spent priceless time with them, his daughter Tia and son-in-law Sean Ivery, as well as his former wife Barbara. He kept lifelong friendships, some lasting more than eighty years. As always, he relished long conversations, genuinely inquisitive about the lives of his many loved ones. Armed with his trusty binoculars, he watched the sailboats and communed with the birds from his deck, taking many treasured trips back and forth to Inverness. His warmth and enthusiasm never diminished as he contemplated a life well lived and well loved. He will not be forgotten - remaining our Wingman in spirit forever.

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