Wayne Willis Wiley
October 1st, 1939 - November 11th, 2021
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Wayne's Obituary
Wayne Willis Wiley, 82, of Berrien Springs passed away Thursday, November 11, 2021, at Spectrum Health Lakeland.
Wayne was born on October 1, 1939, to Lester and Helen (Evens) Wiley, in Osceola, Iowa. He lived his first three years in Birmingham, Iowa, before his family relocated to the town of Nevada, Iowa, which he would call his hometown.
After graduating from Oak Park Academy in Nevada, he spent one year studying at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. From there he returned to Nevada, where he worked at a variety of jobs for the next several years.
While visiting friends in Chicago, Wayne was convinced to go on a blind date with Judy Van Buren, a young nurse who was working at Hinsdale Hospital. The date was nice but unspectacular. However, some months later, Wayne and Judy met again at the wedding of the mutual friends who had set up the blind date. And so began a relationship that prompted Wayne to make numerous weekend drives from central Iowa to Chicago.
Wayne was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1962 and would spend the next two years serving his country, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The routine of Army service was much improved when Judy joined him in Texas after they married on December 8, 1963, in Bay City, Michigan.
After Wayne’s stint in the Army was finished, the Wileys moved back to Wayne’s hometown of Nevada, where he worked for several different construction companies and sometimes on his own, building and remodeling houses. While in Nevada, two sons were born into the family: Craig in 1965 and Kevin in 1966.
In 1978, the Wileys moved to Bay City, Michigan, for work opportunities and to be closer to Judy’s family. Then in 1986, seeking warmer weather, Wayne and Judy moved to Avon Park, Florida, where he worked first in a cabinet shop and then as a hospital courier while Judy worked as a nurse and case manager. After retirement, they moved back to Michigan in 2014, this time to Berrien Springs, to be closer to their son Kevin and his wife, Vicki.
A life-long Seventh-day Adventist, Wayne’s commitment to his church was demonstrated through action: he was a deacon, treasurer, and youth Bible class teacher; he sat on church and church school boards; if something needed to be fixed or built, he was there. Wayne’s hobbies over the years included woodworking (he built several pieces of furniture), flying (as a young man he worked towards a private pilot’s license), model trains (HO gauge and N gauge), camping with the family (for many years in a pick-up camper that he had bought as a wreck and rebuilt), nature walks, and listening to the waves while walking on Florida beaches.
Wayne is survived by and will be missed by his wife of nearly 58 years, Judy; his children, Craig (Cheryl) Wiley and Kevin (Vicki) Wiley; and his grandchildren, Brianna, Justin (DahEun), Kierra, and Joshua Wiley. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lester and Helen Wiley.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on December 27 at 1:00 P.M. at Michiana Fil-Am Seventh-day Adventist Church, 8454 Kephart Lane, Berrien Springs. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org/. Those wishing to leave an online condolence for Wayne’s family may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com.
Wayne was born on October 1, 1939, to Lester and Helen (Evens) Wiley, in Osceola, Iowa. He lived his first three years in Birmingham, Iowa, before his family relocated to the town of Nevada, Iowa, which he would call his hometown.
After graduating from Oak Park Academy in Nevada, he spent one year studying at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. From there he returned to Nevada, where he worked at a variety of jobs for the next several years.
While visiting friends in Chicago, Wayne was convinced to go on a blind date with Judy Van Buren, a young nurse who was working at Hinsdale Hospital. The date was nice but unspectacular. However, some months later, Wayne and Judy met again at the wedding of the mutual friends who had set up the blind date. And so began a relationship that prompted Wayne to make numerous weekend drives from central Iowa to Chicago.
Wayne was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1962 and would spend the next two years serving his country, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The routine of Army service was much improved when Judy joined him in Texas after they married on December 8, 1963, in Bay City, Michigan.
After Wayne’s stint in the Army was finished, the Wileys moved back to Wayne’s hometown of Nevada, where he worked for several different construction companies and sometimes on his own, building and remodeling houses. While in Nevada, two sons were born into the family: Craig in 1965 and Kevin in 1966.
In 1978, the Wileys moved to Bay City, Michigan, for work opportunities and to be closer to Judy’s family. Then in 1986, seeking warmer weather, Wayne and Judy moved to Avon Park, Florida, where he worked first in a cabinet shop and then as a hospital courier while Judy worked as a nurse and case manager. After retirement, they moved back to Michigan in 2014, this time to Berrien Springs, to be closer to their son Kevin and his wife, Vicki.
A life-long Seventh-day Adventist, Wayne’s commitment to his church was demonstrated through action: he was a deacon, treasurer, and youth Bible class teacher; he sat on church and church school boards; if something needed to be fixed or built, he was there. Wayne’s hobbies over the years included woodworking (he built several pieces of furniture), flying (as a young man he worked towards a private pilot’s license), model trains (HO gauge and N gauge), camping with the family (for many years in a pick-up camper that he had bought as a wreck and rebuilt), nature walks, and listening to the waves while walking on Florida beaches.
Wayne is survived by and will be missed by his wife of nearly 58 years, Judy; his children, Craig (Cheryl) Wiley and Kevin (Vicki) Wiley; and his grandchildren, Brianna, Justin (DahEun), Kierra, and Joshua Wiley. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lester and Helen Wiley.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on December 27 at 1:00 P.M. at Michiana Fil-Am Seventh-day Adventist Church, 8454 Kephart Lane, Berrien Springs. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org/. Those wishing to leave an online condolence for Wayne’s family may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com.
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