Roy W. Wiley
Wiley, Roy Wilmer, age 87, passed away suddenly on April 4, 2022, at Northwestern Hospital, Chicago, IL., after recovering from hip surgery. He was joking with the nurse at 4:30 am so his death was a shock to us all. He was born in Chicago on September 28, 1934, to Charles L. Wiley, former candidate for Congress and founder of Post 802 of the American Legion, and Emily M. Beltz. The American Legion appointed Roy as its youngest officer. He marched as their mascot in parades with his parents throughout the U.S. as young as three years old.
Roy had three children, Roy Charles Wiley, Cindy Wiley Hindel, and Todd Wiley. He is survived by his wife of 33 years Bobbie Huskey Wiley, his son Roy, and his wife Tery, his daughter Cindy, and her husband Scott, nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Roy received his education at Onarga Military High School and at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Roy began his love for the newspaper business as the editor of the Onarga Military High School newspaper and yearbook. He had a successful career in the newspaper business beginning as an apprentice copy clerk at the Chicago Sun-Times (city’s oldest daily newspaper and the merger of the morning Chicago Sun and the evening Times). He became general assignment reporter in the detective bureau on the midnight to 8:00 a.m. shift, while he was a full-time journalism student at Northwestern. Roy would often get calls from Marshal Field, III, owner of the Sun-Times, when the headline would refer to police officers as “cops,” which Field felt disrespected police officers.
Roy later served as automobile editor where the people he interviewed credited him to “ask the most intelligent questions of any newspaper man covering Detroit.” He interviewed Henry Ford II, George Romney of American Motors and CEOs of General Motors and Chrysler. He was marketing and stock market columnist and assistant financial editor for the Chicago Sun-Times. As assistant financial editor, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the financial department and supervised ten staff. During his tenure, Time Magazine cited the Sun-Times “as having the best financial section in Chicago newspapers.” Field would say to his writers, “a newspaper is more than just disseminating the day’s news, a newspaper must be a leader whose judgment people respect, trust and can rely on to help them make important decisions.”
Roy was quoted multiple times in the book titled After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey, about Roy’s friendship with Michael’s father, Bob Hainey, copy desk chief for the Sun-Times, and Bob’s unexpected death. Chicago has lost a little piece of Chicago history with his passing. He loved the city of Chicago and loved to tell stories about the Chicago newspaper and public relations businesses.
Roy was the executive editor of Automotive Fleet magazine where he promoted car leasing in the U.S. and in Europe, where he had dinner with Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco. He was also editor and publisher of the American Savings & Loan Weekly, an independent newspaper in 1965.
In the public relations field, he was a senior vice president at the Financial Relations Board serving as a financial consultant to publicly held corporations. He served as director of communications at Weber Cohn and Riley advertising agency, known to be one of Chicago’s “hot” agencies during the “Mad Men” era. He was responsible for a wide range of accounts, including the Economic Development Commission of Chicago, Westinghouse’s Group W Cable franchising activities and automobile and housing trade associations. He became general manager at Ogilvy and Mather advertising agency and open its Chicago office of public relations. He was managing director at Hill & Knowlton public relations agency where he supervised and developed programs ranging from defending against hostile corporate takeovers, marketing product launches, communications and media training programs and public education programs promoting juvenile justice reform.
His last position was manager of external communications at Navistar International Corporation, truck, and engine company. He provided strategic guidance and execution of all external corporate communications including media relations, financial communications, news releases, annual reports, and annual meetings. He helped the agency advance its position in clean diesel in trucks, he facilitated Navistar on CNBC Squawk Box, facilitated Navistar to open the New York Stock Exchange, and coached company staff on how to deal with the media.
Roy was recipient of twelve national and regional awards for public and investor relations programs, including a 1981 Gold Quill from the International Association of Business Communications and a national H&K Award for Communications Excellence promoting juvenile justice reform.
Wiley served as press secretary for an Illinois gubernatorial candidate and as a media advisor to two mayors of the City of Chicago. He served for six years as director of the Mental Health Association of Greater Chicago, he founded the Lake County Illinois Press Club, was an officer in the Chicago Newspaper Reporter’s Association, governor of the Chicago Press Club, member of the Chicago Press Veterans Association and trustee of the Glenbrook Fire Protection District. His upbeat personality, humor, cool demeanor, and determination to stay fit inspired us all, and his optimism was contagious.
A Memorial Service will be held on June 1, at 4:00 pm at the Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut Street, Chicago. If you plan to attend the Memorial Service, enter at the Michigan and Delaware Avenue entrance. Please check with the Fourth Presbyterian Church at 312-787-4570 or fourthchurch.org by May 30, 2022, to confirm current COVID considerations. The service will be live streamed at
https://video.ibm.com/channel/GW8Pc7QJ9tA
If you would like to express remembrances of Roy in writing before the service, please email them to Bobbie Huskey Wiley at bhuskey@huskey-associates.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Fourth Presbyterian Church, American Heart Association, or the Bright Focus Foundation for Macular Degeneration Research.