Just at the end of the war in Europe, in May of 1945, one of the charter members of the faculty, J. H. Wisely, suddenly died of a heart attack. The Pine Log in 1945 referred to him as “Business Manager and Head of the Department of Commerce, Sociology, and Economics at SFA.” Wisely had joined the faculty in 1923 with the dual role of Commerce Professor and Auditor. The good financial reputation of the college can be attributed directly to his competent guidance. He secured the most from the resources of the college and oversaw the complicated building projects under the PWA grant during the Depression. In endless positions, for instance, as head of the County’s Rations Board during the war or as Chairman of the County Parole Board, Wisely endeared himself to faculty, students, and townspeople. “It was Mr. Wisely’s willingness to help, coupled with his high sense of civic duty and responsibility, that led him to accept assignments that extended beyond his strength in recent years,” said one of his friends. Wisely influenced everything, yet he did it quietly and without taking credit; he never complained or revealed any irritations as he worked. In an editorial tribute to him in the Daily Sentinel, Victor Fain, who had worked with Wisely since the mid-thirties, wrote:

“There is no way to estimate the value of this man. He was wise in counsel and a magnificent teacher. He was trusted because he was trustworthy. He was loved because he was lovable. His advice was sought because he was honest. In every sense he lived up to the highest traditions and standards of a cultivated Christian gentleman. ... It is not too much to say that Mr. Wisely was unusual in the great number of places that he could fill acceptably. He never lost his poise, he never became excited, he was always calm, dignified, and helpful.”

Dr. C. F. Sheley of the Modern Language Department also paid tribute to Wisely: “Mr. Wisely has left behind him a legacy which will enrich the lives and bless the services of his colleague in the faculty and of the countless students who were so fortunate as to come under his beneficent influence in the years which he spent among us. ... He was one of the charter members of the faculty, so to speak, and was so closely identified with every phase of the school’s activities that both faculty members and students found in him a never-failing source of comfort and aid in the solution of their personal cares and problems.”

Three years after his death, in 1948, the Board of Regents upon Boynton’s recommendation decided to name “The Boy’s Dormitory” in honor of J. H. Wisely. It was so designated in the 1948-49 catalogue before it was even officially named Wisely Hall. The Pine Log congratulated the President and the Board for naming the dormitory. “His name shall forever be linked with the history and the growth of the College, and as an ex-student and whose pleasure it was to know J. H. Wisely as a great man and a great teacher, we are proud of this simple remembrance. May the young men who live in Wisely Hall be inspired to grasp just a little the spark, the wisdom, and the kindness which made J. H. Wisely a man to be remembered.”