Jack Fred Wilgus' Obituary
Jack Fred William Wilgus
November 12, 1943 – June 12, 2026
Jack William Wilgus, 82, devoted husband, beloved teacher, incorrigible collector, and self-described “total photo nerd,” passed away on June 12, 2026, in Dallas, Texas.
Jack was born on November 12, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois, to William and Loraine (nee Dressel) Wilgus. His mother died when he was young, and his father returned from World War II with serious injuries; his paternal grandparents, Revell Fred Wilgus and Elizabeth Catherine (nee Shouse) Wilgus, of Danville, Illinois, stepped in to help raise him in Chicago. In 1961, he graduated from Luther North High School and then made his way to the Art Institute of Chicago.
That’s when Jack’s love story with Beverly began. They were both working part-time at the Art Institute of Chicago bookstore. They started talking about photography between customers and quickly realized they didn’t want those conversations to stop. Both went on to earn advanced degrees from the Institute of Design in Chicago, a shared foundation that would carry through the rest of their lives together. On June 17, 1967, they were married in a small chapel high in the First Methodist Church in downtown Chicago.
They began collecting historic photos and artifacts a year later, buying their first daguerreotype and stereo card on a weekend trip to New Hope, Pennsylvania. On teachers’ salaries and a lot of patient hunting through rural antique markets over the course of their lives, they built what became one of the finest private photography collections in the country. It was assembled with the same rigor and curiosity Jack brought to everything he loved.
For over forty years, Jack taught photography and the history of photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, eventually heading the photography department. Ask any of his former students what kind of teacher he was, and you’ll hear the same story told a hundred
different ways: generous, patient, endlessly knowledgeable, and so genuinely delighted by his subject that the delight was contagious. Decades later, those same students still call him one of the most important mentors of their lives, a man whose belief in them changed the shape of their careers.
After retirement, Jack and Beverly moved to Dallas to be closer to Beverly’s family. In 2014, to mark the 175th anniversary of the announcement of photography, a portion of their extensive collection was exhibited at the DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University. Jack and Beverly served as guest curators and co-authored the accompanying book, “Defined by Light.” As the library’s director wrote of them: “Photography may be defined by light, but in the case of the Wilguses, it is also sustained by love.”
Jack was preceded in death by his parents, William and Loraine Wilgus, and his paternal grandparents, Revell and Elizabeth Wilgus.
Jack is survived by his wife, Beverly Wilgus, his sister-in-law Beth Mosteller, his nephews, Jeff and Michael Mosteller, their spouses Misti and Amy Mosteller, and four great nieces and nephews (Samantha, Jake, Abigail, and Emma Mosteller). He also leaves behind a wide and devoted community of former students, fellow collectors, and friends across the photography world, who counted his teaching, his generosity, and his infectious enthusiasm among the great gifts of their lives.
A celebration of life service will be held Saturday, July 25th at 2:00pm at the Wildwood Chapel at Restland Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75243. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Humane Society of Dallas County.
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