Robert Charles “Bob” Wislinski died on July 31, 2024, with family at his side. 

Bob was born to Jeannine Anita Raymond Wislinski on February 27, 1954, in Detroit, MI, and raised by this courageous, immigrant, single mother in Dearborn. He attended 12 years of Catholic School, graduating from Sacred Heart High in 1972. A scholar and athlete, he lettered in both football and track as a Sacred Heart Shamrock and, after his senior football season, was cited as a “power-horse” running back when named to the 1971 all-city team of the Dearborn Press newspaper.

Bob received a BA in 1976 from Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, double majoring in political science and sociology. That summer he studied abroad at the University of Oxford, UK, under an international education fellowship. On scholarship he received a master’s degree in international studies from the University of South Carolina in 1977.

Bob soon found his calling in the political realm, working on field operations of the 1978 Pug Ravenel campaign for US Senate. Hired in 1983 as the first development director of the Columbia Museum of Art, he was key to securing the land deal with the City of Columbia to move the museum downtown and managed the first phase of the museum’s capital campaign. The new museum has since anchored the revitalization of the city’s Main St.

In 1995 Bob moved into private practice as WizWorks, LLC, offering fundraising and organizational development and continuing his efforts to elect principled leadership and manage urban growth. Bob worked fiercely and successfully to prevent a publicly subsidized Green Diamond development on the Congaree River floodplain. He fundraised and leveraged public support for a much-needed expansion of the Columbia Animal Shelter and fundraised for the SC Senate Democratic Caucus for more than 10 years.

Answering a calling to teach, Bob taught state and local government for Midlands Technical College as a part-time adjunct instructor for 35 years.

Bob embraced family. Though separated from them by many miles, he participated in the life milestones of his sisters, nieces and nephews, his sisters- and brothers-in-law and all their children. He was immensely proud of his son, a fellow athlete and scholar who also works in the political realm.

Bob is remembered as principled, courageous, and loyal and as a champion for justice, willing to oppose well-funded interests. He was also a collector of work by local artists and an adventurous and skilled chef, expressing his love through food.

Bob is survived by his wife Mary Patricia Callahan, son Benton Grady Wislinski, and sister Margaret Arlene Guyor. He was preceded in death by his mother (1989) and sister Beverly Jean Wislinski Besco (2006).

The family extends a heartfelt thanks the nurses of Prisma Health Richland Neurological ICU for their unwavering skill, compassion, and dedication.

A celebration of Bob’s life will be held on Saturday, October 26, 2024 from 12pm - 2PM, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia. 

In lieu of flowers please send donations to the South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club. https://www.sierraclub.org/south-carolina