?The news of Wayne‘s passing caught me by surprise and profound sadness.
Wayne has occupied a unique place in my heart ever since I met him in the seventh grade at Kent Elementary. Back in those days we were slightly built, under five feet tall and not particularly dialed into the games that dominated lunchtime play and Boys PE. Alternatively, Wayne, Steve Filante, and I would hangout at the tiny outdoor gym area practicing our version of unsupervised gymnastics. We all learned how to do kip-ups, seated swings and flying dismounts off the high bar but only Wayne developed the strength and grace required to do a forehand and/or backhand giant swing off of that inflexible solid steel bar in the schoolyard.
Wayne and I also played a lot of tennis. During summer vacation we played multiple times a week on the College of Marin courts which were equidistant from our homes. We exchanged many epic long rallies and had some great workouts on the court. But Wayne always seemed to come up with a deft shot to ultimately win the point. I was able to push Wayne’s game and got close to maybe winning a set but I think my career match record against Wayne was: 0 wins - 95 losses. (Maybe he was just hustling me?!)
When we got to Redwood, Wayne quickly assumed the top spot on our Frosh/Soph Cross Country team with Kevin Pusser, Tim Taylor, Jay Newhouse, Mike Kast, Steve Filante and me. As a team, we ran many hundreds of miles together, dominated the competition and had a good time doing it all.
I missed Wayne after their family moved (I think to Kansas) during our last years at Redwood. When he returned to California to attend Stanford, I was at Sonoma State and then moved to Oregon and my connection with Wayne faded.
For the last 55 years I’ve been an avid fly fisherman and like Wayne, I’ve followed that passion around the world. It breaks my heart to now realize (50 years too late) that my old friend Wayne had pursued the same sport and that we never wet a line together.
I’m heading out to the Deschutes River later today in search of a big rainbow. I’ll be thinking of Wayne while I’m fishing this evening and try to present my fly with the grace and accuracy that I know he would have.
Wayne was a truly amazing man and an enduring inspiration to me. Rest in peace my friend.
Dick Stoltze
