Wayne Mendenhall

Wayne Mendenhall

            A celebration of life for longtime Lamar resident, Wayne Mendenhall was held at 10:00 A.M. on Monday, November 24, 2014 at the Lamar Christian Church with Ian Blacker officiating. Burial was held at 3:00PM on Monday at the Walsh Cemetery in Walsh, Colorado.

            Visitation for Wayne was held on Sunday, November 23, 2014 from 1:00PM until 5:00PM at the Peacock Family Chapel.

Joseph Wayne Schoonover-Mendenhall was born on August 23, 1928 to Charles Milton and Edith Andis Schoonover.  Wayne, as he preferred to be called, was welcomed home by his brothers: Owen, Eldon and Marvin and his sister Mary Marlene.  On January 17, 1930 Wayne’s father Charlie passed away.  Due the horrible economic times Wayne was adopted by Fred and Sally Mendenhall.
Wayne grew up in the Walsh area attending school until the 10th grade, when again due to the times he was forced to quit school and become self-supportive.  In 1950 Wayne met and married and to this union 8 children were born:  Larry, Alan, Lorna, Annett, Eric, Fonda, Milton and Donna.  On June 7, 1969, due to a tragic accident, Larry went to be with the Lord.
Since Wayne had only a 10th grade education he was sometimes required to work 2 jobs or more to give his children the things they needed.  Even though this meant not being able to spend much time with children, he made sure he spent quality time with them.  Wayne instilled a good work ethic in all of his children, taught them many skills to enable them to be independent and made sure that they not only had a good education he also made sure that they attended church and had a good Christian upbringing.
On May 20, 1991 Wayne married Marjorie (Marge) Hutchison, which added 3 step-children to his family; Bonnie and Ed Ervin, George (Bud) and Nancy Hutchison and Linda and Mark Bagley.
Wayne was a talented man and over the course of his lifetime held numerous jobs; farming; parts manager for Thompson Well Service and Reese Motor Company; electronic repair man; assistant store manager; funeral director and postal carrier were many of the jobs he did.  His time as a funeral director with Peacock Funeral Home was one he enjoyed.  It gave him the ability to give to people the kindness and compassion that he so readily shared with his children.  Wayne never slacked on a job or any kind of project that he was involved in.  He worked hard and loved his children and the Lord immensely.
After many years of hard work, Wayne was able to retire to some degree and he and Marge spent many hours and miles traveling.  They actually wore out one motor home. They were able to go to every state except Alaska and almost every country in Canada.  For many winters they were the average ‘Snow Birds’ and traveled to Quartzsite, AZ.  When Wayne and Marge were not traveling they enjoyed many adventures with their grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Wayne’s physical health began to decline over the last couple of years and on November 19, 2014, Wayne was able to leave behind all the pain and ill health and go to be with the Lord.  He will be horribly missed by his 7 children: Alan and Enia Mendenhall, Lorna and Richard Monson, Annett and Buck Malerba, Eric Mendenhall, Fonda and Raymond Berndt, Milton and Lisa Mendenhall and Donna and Kenny Birt, 23 grandchildren: Anthony, Courtney, Heather, Dano, Derrick, Shahn, Matthew, Amelia, Kyle, Gianna, Tony, Marco, Jenavie, Nicholas, Evan, Tashalyn, Lacee, Michaela, Shawn Keith, Kenneth Jr., Russel, Misty and Kassandra, 24 great grandchildren and 1 great, great grandson;
His 3 step-children, 9 step-grandchildren, 16 step-great grandchildren and 2 step-great, great grandchildren.
Due to Wayne’s declining health he was unaware that in July 2015 he will be getting 2 more great grandchildren and 1 more great, great grandchild.
           Memorial contributions may be made to the Lamar Area Hospice either direct or in care of the funeral home office.