Wayne Elmer Stiles

Wayne Elmer Stiles was born in Martin, South Dakota in 1941, the first child of Franklin Homer Stiles and Opal Mae Stiles. Over the next few years, their family grew by four, all little girls: Lucille, Ruth, Jean, and Marilyn. Growing up in a small, rural community in the 1940’s, his days were spent outside having fun with friends. One of our favorite stories from his childhood is how he and his buddies would light a hay bale on fire at one end of town to occupy the law/fire authorities so that they could grab hold of the bumper of a passing car to “ski” on the snowy roads to the opposite end of town. Once there, they would light another hay bale and catch a bumper back. He shared with us how he and many kids would go to the back of the movie theater on trash burning days. Once the trash was burned and the ashes were barely cooled off, they would dump out the ashes for the inevitable coins that had fallen out of movie patron’s pockets for easy spending money. His love of hunting probably began at this time from pheasant hunting in nearby Nebraska. Building your bike from parts you found was the norm. My dad was resourceful and could fix almost anything for the rest of his life.

Wayne’s mom, Opal, passed away when he was just 14 years old. As the oldest, he immediately became in charge of his little sisters. The family moved to Louisburg, Missouri, then Wayne’s dad married Lillian Russell, and the family moved to Wichita, Kansas. My dad had fond memories of being on a roller-skating team while in the Wichita area. Homer and Lillian increased the family with a baby boy, Linn, and, later, a daughter Theresa, who died as an infant. The whole family then moved to Augusta, Kansas.

In 1958 Wayne joined the Navy. He was on both the USS Midway and the USS Coral Sea. He docked in Hong Kong, Subic Bay, and Okinawa, but always remembered the guys from NARF El Centro as the most fun. While stationed in El Centro, California he met his wife, Charlene Napier, and they were married in June of 1964. This month they would have celebrated 62 years of marriage.

After nearly ten years in the Navy, my dad saw the green grass, during winter, around NAS Miramar in San Diego, with not a drop of snow to shovel, and thought it looked like a good place to live. Wayne and Charlene and their two children, Jeffrey and Jennifer, moved into the house he would live in for the rest of his life. Wayne worked fulltime as a Foreman for Connelly Construction. Weekends were spent hunting, fishing, watching the NASCAR Cup series, and camping. He hunted deer in Utah, quail in San Diego, and pheasant and dove in the Imperial Valley. We logged many miles in various motorhomes, especially to the desert and back. My dad always blasted the song “Queen of Hearts” by Juice Newton and rocked out as we took the Dunaway Road exit to our favorite desert spot. He could come across as a little gruff, but was also very generous to my brother and me; we knew he was giving us a great childhood. After 31 years, Wayne retired from Connelly Construction in 2003. He spent his retirement reading the newspaper cover to cover, working crossword puzzles with his wife, and volunteering as a Range Safety Officer for the South Bay Rod and Gun Club.

Wayne Elmer Stiles passed away peacefully at home with his wife by his side. He was strong until the very end and is survived by his wife Charlene Stiles; his daughter Jennifer (John) Sena and daughter-in-law Susan Stiles; his grandchildren Zach Stiles, Shelby Stiles, Joseph Sena, and Sophia Sena; his siblings Lucille Hutchins, Ruth Rowland, Jean (Jim) Auer, Marilyn Drews, and Linn (Lydia) Stiles.