- By Renee Bassett
- September 04, 2025
- Opinion
Summary
H. Reed Wiegle, 81, of Glenmoore, Pa., passed away on Sunday, June 8, 2025, at his residence.
H. Reed Wiegle, 81, of Glenmoore, Pa., passed away on Sunday, June 8, 2025, at his residence. He was a long-time contributor to a variety of ISA standards and practices.
Reed was born on July 10, 1943, the son of Howard Harrison Wiegle and Frieda Lois Linnert. Growing up, Reed thought that his Uncle Charlie was a really interesting person and he wanted to be just like him. Charlie Linnert was a nuclear engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II and developed control rod drives for the first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus.
Wiegle graduated in 1965 with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1971, he earned his master's degree in electrical engineering with a thesis on Muddy Run Pumped Storage Station. He was then hired by Philadelphia Electric Company, where he worked in substations; fossil, hydro and nuclear generating stations; and quality management systems until he retired.
Wiegle’s next act was as a consultant for Canus and later Shaw Group. He travelled to South Africa to observe modular reactors and was involved in oversight teams for restarting Comanche Peak in Glen Rose, Texas and Davis-Besse in Oak Harbor, Ohio. While at Davis-Besse, he was fortunate enough to meet Herbert Estrada, who had known his uncle Charlie and shared several stories. Wiegle retired from The Shaw Group when the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant became one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.
Wiegle was an ISA Standards and Practices (S&P) Board Member through December 2004. He was a long-time ISA committee member for ISA67, Nuclear Power Plant Standards, and ISA67 managing director through July 2005. He received an ISA Service Award in 1992 for his work with ISA67.
Wiegle also received an ISA Achievement Award in 1997, “in recognition for outstanding contributions in the development of ISA-TR88.0.03, Possible Recipe Procedure Presentation Formats, and for pioneering work in developing ISA standards and technical reports using the Internet.” ISA-TR88.0.03-1996 explores possible presentation formats for recipe procedures in batch process automation, based on the ISA-88.00.01-2010, Batch Control Part 1: Models and Terminology (formerly ANSI/ISA-S88.01-1995) and IEC standards.
According to his obituary, Wiegle “had an incredible capacity to fix anything. His mind could figure out how things worked and if they broke, he could fix them. He loved operating equipment and would happily spend an entire weekend on his tractor mowing fields.”
Wiegle had many interests throughout his life: sports, cars, travel, anything related to ancient Egypt, track and field. His love of running led him to compete in three marathons and also organize many running events. His love of foxhunting led him to become a member of the Kimberton Hunt. He also loved old cars and was a big fan of auto racing—Indy Car, Formula 1, NASCAR and more, and he attended the Indianapolis 500 38 times.
Reed is survived by his long-time companion, Vickey Ormsby of Glenmoore, Pa., son, Charles Reed Wiegle and wife, Donna, Swan’s Island, Maine; brother Herb Wiegle and wife, Carol, Havertown, Pa.; and sister Wendy Long, Pittsburgh, Pa.. He was preceded in death by his former wife, Anne Broomall Wiegle, and son, Philip Elkins Wiegle.
This obituary originally appeared in the August/September issue of Automation.com Monthly.
About The Author
Renee Bassett is chief editor for Automation.com Monthly digital magazine and other International Society of Automation publications, including Automation.com. Bassett is an experienced writer, editor and project manager for industrial automation, engineering, information technology and infrastructure publications. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University, Bloomington, and is based in Nashville.
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