Herman Wayne Wingo

Herman Wayne Wingo was preceded in death by parents, Herman and Modena Wingo. He is survived by his wife, Ann Wingo; son, Eric (Jill) Wingo; grandchildren, Tucker Wingo, Millie (Dameon) Lott, Anthony (Lyndsey) Ashworth; great-grandchildren, Colt Ashworth, Deegan Lott; brother, Ernie (Pat) Wingo; nephews Brian and Tim Wingo; a host of other relatives; and many special friends.

Wayne was born in Union Hill and was raised by loving parents. He loved to tell stories about growing up around Union Hill and Goodlettsville. He especially loved bragging about "the best friend a boy could have", Snooky, the famous bike-riding dog. Wayne attended Goodlettsville High School, where he was always catching some girl's eye by driving around in one of his fast cars. It seems like everyone knew Wayne Wingo. He was even voted "bachelor of the Year" by a local radio station. His father built Union Hill Racetrack, and Wayne could really turn heads when he raced his black and gold 56 Chevy there.

Wayne joined the army in 1963 and served for four years before joining the National Guard. Wayne married Ann Parmenter in 1967. They had their son, Eric in 1968. Wayne definitely passed on his love of cars to Eric, who would also race at Union Hill. Ann and Wayne were the loves of each other's lives and would go on to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 2017.

Wayne's family grew to include a dearly loved grandson, Tucker. Wayne must have passed on the "racing gene" to him too, because he also races. You can imagine that a lot of the family conversations include "Who was racing what? Where? and How fast did they go?". Wayne's family would eventually grow to include a slew of step-grandkids and step-great-grandkids, which was just fine with him because he loved being surrounded by family.

You can't talk about Wayne Wingo without talking about his best friend, Lonnie Jernigan, and the Jernigan family. Almost every family vacation and holiday picture included at least one Jernigan. When Lonnie passed away in 2013, Wayne lost a best friend, but the rest of the Jernigan clan stuck by his side and remained like family. The families like to imagine that Wayne and Lonnie are reunited in heaven, sitting around a campfire, drinking a pot of cowboy coffee.

One of the most important things to Wayne was attending church. He was a member of Madison Church of Christ for many years . He joined Greenridge Church of Christ when the family moved to Ridgetop before becoming a member of Hill Crest Church of Christ, where he was still a member when he passed away. As long as he was able, he was an active church member. He enjoyed driving the church van, as he would say, "to pick up the ladies". He also volunteered as a bus driver for Inner City Ministry for many years.

Wayne had many good friends over the years; too many to mention, but he loved them all dearly. He enjoyed passing the time by telling stories about the good old days and talking about who had stopped by to visit or who had called. Wayne loved a good story or joke and kept his sense of humor up until the end. On one of his last days of life, he was lying in the bed with his eyes closed. An oldies station was playing in the background. The Twist came on and Wayne grinned and raised an arm like he was doing The Twist. That's how he would want to be remembered, a loving son, husband, father, grandfather, and friend, who was smiling to the end.