Wayne Tilman Dayton, Jr.

Wayne Tilman Dayton, Jr., 95, a lifelong Central-Texas resident, died Sunday, September 20, 2020. Wayne was born in Liberty Hill to parents Beulah Curtis Dayton and Wayne Tilman Dayton on June 3, 1925. His childhood was spent with his four sisters, Frances, Wilma, Laverne, and Daisy, happily playing in the East Austin streets around Holly, Canterbury, and Willow. As young children, the five were baptized at the old Calvary Baptist Church once located in East Austin.

After graduating from Austin High School in May, 1942, and turning 17 in June, Wayne immediately enlisted in the Navy Reserve (USNR) serving as a tail gunner on air-sea rescue operations in the South Pacific and Philippine waters during World War II. Over a year of his service was spent with United States Pacific Fleet Patrol Squadron Fifty-Four (VPB-54), the Black Cats. He was honorably discharged 39 months and 13 days later as Aviation Ordinance Man, Second Class. He received the Air Medal for meritorious conduct in flight.

Wayne will be remembered by many Austinites as an employer and businessman. Even as a young man, Wayne was an entrepreneur, riding his bike to deliver telegrams, newspapers, and prescriptions to help support his mother and sister, Daisy. After attending the University of Texas for a time, Wayne founded two contracting companies, Wayne Dayton Plumbing and Wayne Dayton Heating & Air Conditioning. For over thirty years, during Austin’s post-World War II building boom, Wayne worked with local builders Nelson Puett, Bill Milburn, Don West, and others to build new homes in Austin and the surrounding suburbs. Wayne served as a director on the board of Citizen’s National Bank for many years, served on the board of the Summit Elementary School Board, and Wayne Dayton Plumbing sponsored Balcones Little League Baseball for 13 years.

Wayne was one of Austin’s original live music pioneers. From 1975 until 1997, his nightclubs The Silver Dollar, The Lumberyard, and the Country Palace, hosted the best of local and national country music talent, including names such as Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Tim McGraw, Randy Travis, Kenny Chesney, and George Jones, to name only a few. Willie Nelson’s "Honeysuckle Rose" was filmed partially at the original Lumberyard at 9200 Burnet Road.

In 1997 Wayne retired to Bastrop, but continued with his love of construction, building his and Glenda’s home on Highway 21 and spec houses in a nearby neighborhood, Pine View Estates. Wayne and Glenda traveled the globe. A life-long keen follower of world events and politics, Wayne read the Austin American Statesman from cover-to-cover each day. He cared for his dogs and his widowed sisters, and not always in that order. Wayne celebrated his 80th birthday in 2005 surrounded by family, friends, and business associates at the University of Texas Club, a fitting location for lifetime member #1383 of the Texas Ex’s.

Wayne is survived by his wife of 38 years, Glenda Wall Dayton. Wayne is also survived by his three children with former spouse Wilma Dayton: son Larry Randall Dayton and his wife, Treva, and daughters Beverly Irene Dayton Jackson and Barbara Ann Dayton Smith. His three grandchildren are Christopher Wayne Cooper and wife Kelly, Kayla Ann Schlabach, and Stephanie Danielle Smith. Great-grandchildren are Zackary Hunter Cooper, Chance Fisher Cooper, Garret Russell, and Cooper Schlabach. Wayne is also survived by many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his beloved sisters: Laverne Dayton, Daisy Dayton Kosler, Wilma Dayton Pugh, and Frances Dayton French, and by his parents who both died shortly after his return from the war.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from Five o’clock in the evening, on Thursday, the 24th of September, until Seven o’clock in the Capitol Room at Cook-Walden Capital Parks Funeral Home, Pflugerville, Texas. Funeral services will begin at 2:00 p.m., Friday, September 25, 2020 in The Memorial Chapel of Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home at 14501 North Interstate 35 (exit 247 if traveling north or exit 246 if traveling south), Pflugerville with Deacon Bill Hobby, formerly of Ascension Catholic Church, Bastrop, officiating. Interment will be for the family in the Fountain of Memories II of Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Cemetery.

We extend our thanks to caregivers Julie Moore, Sandra Mason, and Deanna Bortner for the many entertaining afternoons they afforded Wayne, endeavoring, mostly unsuccessfully, to beat him at checkers. A special thanks to Julie who has so thoughtfully cared for Wayne since 2012, and to the three women who kept him safe through the nights – Estella Rivas, Keisha Hoodye, and Kathleen Airaudi. He appreciated you very much.

In lieu of flowers, for those who wish to honor the memory of this legend-in-his-own time, memorial gifts may be made to the Wayne and Glenda Dayton Endowed Presidential Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin to benefit those scholastically advanced, but financially challenged. Contributions should be made out to The University of Texas at Austin and mailed to P. O. Box 7458, Austin, TX 78713-7458. Or, please donate to the charity of your choice.