Robert Ray Wells

Robert Ray Wells, 59, enjoyed pizza Friday at home with his family before saying “Fare you well, fare you well, I love you more than words can tell” to this world on Saturday morning, April 25, 2026. His family invites you to join them for a memorial reception on Friday, May 1, 2026, from 4:00 P.M. until 6:00 P.M. in West Hall at Waller Funeral Home with a final pizza Friday and farewell toast to Robert beginning at 6:00.

Robert was born in Greenville, MS and graduated from Washington School in 1985. He attended the University of Mississippi where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. He obtained his bachelor’s (1991) and master’s (1995) degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Mississippi. Robert earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Biological and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University in 2003.

Robert’s profession was Research Hydraulic Engineer at the USDA – ARS National Sedimentation Laboratory in Oxford. His research incorporated multiple disciplines covering hydrology, soil physics, hydraulics, sediment transport mechanics, channel erosion and engineering design to assess impacts on agricultural landscape evolution. He led the ongoing development of the USDA’s computer model, RUSLE2, designed to calculate erosion. Robert authored dozens of studies and articles and was well published in the journals of his field.

Robert never listened when we complained that his tools were everywhere and that that they would be the death of him; however, we never expected him to take it so literally. While his life ended suddenly and without warning, Robert lived 59 years with more gusto and admiration for life than most people ever experience. He loved to tell his children that their 20’s and 30’s were “for living” as he told stories of days gone by following The Dead (The Grateful Dead, not the literal Dead for those of you too young to understand), singing and playing at The House of Blues while surviving off of beer, stale pizza and exhaust fumes. His 40’s brought a change of pace. Time with his wife and children, whom he leaves behind to sort through his absurd collection of running shoes, became his priority and refined his view on truly living. He was humbled in his 50’s when a Saturday spent organizing, guttering and throwing back a few margaritas fulfilled and exhausted him as much as a 100+ mile Assault on Mt. Mitchell. Above all, every person blessed to know Robert will remember that his life’s greatest achievement was to be named the World Champion Weiner Dog Trainer after having successfully trained a total of one dog, his beloved Gus.

Robert outshot his coverage by miles when he married the love of his life, Diana. All of his best qualities were passed to his children, Georgeanna Wells, Sutton Wells and Emmy-Rose Wells. To his children he’d sing “Searched my whole life to find you, I hate to leave you, But I hope you’ll know, Where I’m going, I’ll Be seeing you.”

In addition to his wife and children, Robert is survived by his mother, Barbara Wells and his sister, Cynthia Kaye Wilson. He was preceded in death by his father, George Ray Wells.

Expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Robert’s memory may be made to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Youth Program, 113 S. 9th Street, Oxford, MS 38655.