Story about Wayne. I met Wayne in 1991. My wife, Chris, and I had recently moved into the 9th Street neighborhood in Philomath OR. Wayne and Karren lived 2 doors away. Chris had known Karren for some time through their mutual quilting and fiber arts interests and she was excited to discover that Karren lived nearby. It wasn't long before Chris mentioned that Karren had invited us over to get acquainted. Mostly to get the two husbands involved in the friendship our two ladies already shared, but now as couples.
From the very first time I met Wayne, his warm, friendly, easy manner allowed me to feel genuinely welcome and comfortable in his home. We shared stories of mutual interests, told a few jokes, talked about work, our jobs, our kids and our wives, in no particular order, and I left our first visit knowing Wayne to be a good man who loved his wife and family and enjoyed life and most of what came with it. It felt like I'd known Wayne for much longer and my instincts told me even more. That he was reliable, trustworthy, stable and could be counted on. Through the years that never changed regardless of time that passed between visits. His ready smile and warm welcome complimented his clever, humorous comments smoothly delivered with a southern boy flavor. He often made me laugh and always made me glad I was there.
Years went by. We relocated to rural property and began plans to build a home. Wayne got wind of it and, out of the blue, called me one day to talk about what we had in mind. After another 20 minutes of storytelling and catching up a bit, I described our house design. At the time Wayne was running the Mary's River Cedar Mill west of Philomath and he wanted me to know that if there was anything he could do to help with building material needs, to let him know. I thanked him and said how much I appreciated the offer and that I'd let him know if something came up. As I hung up the phone I thought to myself,.. "that's just like Wayne to reach out with an offer to help".
Weeks went by and the construction project moved along. One afternoon I bumped into Wayne in town and he asked about the house. I said we were still getting bids on a lot of different products and that I received a bid for "Hardy-plank" siding and thought we'd go with that. He grimaced like he'd just stepped in dog poo. "Cement board"?, he replied. "Yep", I said. "Why would you use that stuff when you could use cedar"? says Wayne. "I can't afford cedar", says I. Wayne smiles at me and says, "Shoot me over the board footage figures and let me see what I can do. If I can get close on price, would you prefer cedar"? "Yes sir, I would", says I. A few days later Wayne called with a price for siding to do the whole house on the condition that I take care of the loading and delivery. His bid was about 20 bucks higher than the cement board bid. I jumped on it. Wayne was also the source of the cedar lumber for our 15' x 65' deck and all the exterior trim. Could not have done it without him.
About 2 months ago Chris and I bumped into Wayne at BiMart in the lawn and garden area. He greeted us with his usual big smile, warm handshake and some homey, smart-aleck comment just to get things started. We both chuckled and stood there yakking up a storm long enough to catch up on recent family news and such. As we were closing and saying our goodbyes, Wayne gave us each a hug and an invitation to come on out and visit anytime. Sadly, I regret that was the last time we saw Wayne.
We lost a good friend. The world lost a good man.
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