Wayne W. Wimmer

Photo credit: Angi Wimmer Larsen

Wayne W. Wimmer EULOGY - May 2, 2015

Compiled by Richard J. Wimmer (oldest child)
For those who don’t know me, I’m Richard (or Dick) the oldest of Wayne and JoAnn’s 6 children.
Before I start these remarks I need to remind everyone that my father didn't like attention and he probably would be very uncomfortable with what I’m going to say here today. That said, be patient with us dad, we love you and we owe you so much!
Wayne W. Wimmer was born in his family’s home, just a few blocks form here (in Logan, UT) on December 13, 1929. He was the youngest of nine children of Acel Forest Wimmer and Dora Little. He has only one surviving sibling, Doreen, who is 1 year older and with us here today.
He was actually born on Friday the 13th and I have always found that interesting considering one his favorite things to say was “How come I’ve been so lucky?”. That is even the title of the brief autobiography mom helped him put together in 1978.
Wayne lived in Logan his whole life except for military service. Dad & mom had a cabin in Logan, Canyon that was their “getaway”, they had a condo in downtown SLC that they spent a lot of time at and for the last 20 years they have spent most of the winters in a second home in Las Vegas, NV.
As a child, dad remembers aways having cows to milk, chickens and pigs to feed, and work to do in the garden. They always had wood to chop because they depended a wood burning stove for cooking and heating their home. He learned to work hard and he liked to work. This became one of his great legacies.
One of dad’s responsibilities (when he got old enough and his brother Reed could pass it down to him) was to milk the cow twice a day. He would cary corn stalks and the empty milk can on his bike to the pasture, milk the cow, and then ride back with the full can. Finally, when he was 15, and after much pleading, his father let him drive his almost new 1940 Chevy to milk the cow. One day he was racing his friend, Twink Larsen, back home, turned a corner to fast, tipped over the milk can, the lid came off and spilled milk all over in the car. He was back on his bike - and the car smelled like sour milk for a long time.

Growing up, dad’s family didn’t have much money but always plenty of food to eat, trade for other things they needed or to share with others. As a boy, if dad found a chicken egg that was laid in the yard instead of the coop he figured it didn’t count and would trade it for candy or little bags of smashed Tat’er chips from Tate’s store on the corner.
Dad went to the same Logan City schools his kids did, graduating from Logan, High. He didn’t like school very much, he just didn’t like being in class with people or participating, and he didn’t think he was very smart. Ironically, he earned a degree in Civil Engineering from Utah State and could figure out almost any problem or fix anything. He understood business, real estate and the stock market. . . . . So much for not being very smart.
He remembered his mother with great fondness. He said he didn’t remember her ever scolding or spanking him. “She was always kind and always there”.
His father taught him, the value of hard work. He also taught him by example how to help your children without doing it for them. Dad always said “God helps him who helps himself” and I think he learned that from his father.
One of his most vivid memories of his sister Doreen as a child was giggling in church. All they had to do was look at each other and they would start giggling. Their parents would sit between them and all they would have to do is look around their parents and they would start giggling again.
He got an early start at the Wimmer’s store with Doreen - when his father was on the road, selling and fixing sewing machines, his mom would watch the store and he remembered laying on a blanket with Doreen under the sewing machine repair table.
Dad had fond memories of sharing a bed with with his older brother Reed and having to fight his way in to bed every night.
For a time when he was eight or nine and his Sister Emma was a teenager they shared a bedroom in the basement. He was scared to go to bed alone so he would go to sleep on the couch and when Emma got home from work, probably scared to go downstairs alone too, she would carry him downstairs and put him in bed next to her. She had money from working and would bring him treats. He remembers she was always nice to him and he felt a special closeness to her all of his life.

I always thought it amusing that he and his Brother Don sounded so much alike when they laughed - it made it fun to see Uncle Don - only it seemed like Don laughed all the time and dad a little more sparingly.
On a Saturday night in May of his junior year in high school, Dad borrowed his fathers brand new 1946 Ford coupe and headed for the Smithfield Health Days with Bone Larsen and Val Hugie to meet girls. It was raining and nothing was happening so they headed for Preston, ID, the furthest he had ever driven, to check things out at a dance at Persiana Dance Hall. He kept noticing one girl, the only one in a white dress, he started looking for her and he thought “she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen”. She was 16 year old JoAnn Steers, our mother.
He finally asked her to dance and as the story goes she said no and he either didn’t hear it that way or wouldn’t take no for an answer and just took her hand and went out and danced. He called the next week and asked her out the next Saturday. He lined his friend, Odell Nyman, with mom’s friend, Jackie and they started alternating driving every other Saturday. From there he became obsessed, he “couldn’t stand going just once a week”. He’d go to Preston by any means he could. He would borrow a car if he couldn’t get his father’s. His brother Rex facilitated this romance by loaning dad his 1936 Ford several times. He started riding the bus there on Sunday’s and riding home at 1:30AM. They didn’t need a car, they walked, talked, sat in the park, went to movies - they just needed each other - then and for the next 67 years!
Dad worked for his father in his business “Wimmer’s Sewing Machine and Appliance” and he learned the importance of saving money from his father. He liked to “watch money grow”. By the time he had graduated from high school he had saved $1200 (this was 1948 - it would be about $12,000 today!). He wanted to buy his first car and an engagement ring for mom. There weren’t many cars available in Logan so his father went with him to Salt Lake City and they found blue and white 1940 Chevy and rings for mom. He was $200 short and his father gave him a $200 bonus for all the work he had done at the store.
Out of high school, a car and rings paid for, mom and dad so much in love and inseparable, dad was wearing out the road between Logan and Preston. They got married on January 12, 1949 in the Logan, LDS Temple. He was 19 and she was 17. They didn’t have much but they had each other and they still saved money. Their first child, “Dickie”, was born October 10, 1949 ((dad’s words from his autobiography) cute, chubby, strong, he waddled).

Dad loved this country, when he was 17 he joined the National Guard like his brother Reed. He liked the Guard even though there were many classes. He liked the discipline and structure and he prospered in that environment. When Dick was about 10 months old dad’s National Guard Artillery Battery was called to active service in the Korean War and he had to leave his young son and new wife. He was an Army Master Sergeant in Korea and his final rank was Second Lieutenant. Dad said the Army “changed the whole direction of his life”, it gave him confidence and perspective about people and the world.
After Korea, dad went back to work full time for his father at Wimmer’s and went to college on the G.I. Bill. He said he probably wouldn't have gone to college if he hadn’t been paid to go. He found out school wasn’t as bad as he thought and his first composition “ A Christmas in Korea” was published in the USU Student Life newspaper.
It was a big year for mom & dad after Korea, they bought their first home, their first new car, a yellow 1953 Chevy (that I later slid into a telephone pole) and most importantly their first daughter Karen was born on January 8, 1953 (pretty, sweet, Blondie, a reader).
A little more than a year later on April 19, 1954 son #2 Steven was born (spectacular looking (big green eyes), active, stubborn, accident prone). On November 18, 1956 son 3#, Douglas, was born (blond, intelligent, prettier than Steve).
In 1957, armed with an engineering degree, it was time for dad to decide what to do with the rest of his life. He loved the business but his father wasn’t interested improving it and he didn’t want to continue to work for him so he told grandpa that if he didn’t sell the store to him “lock, stock and barrel” he would leave for an engineering job. Grandpa sold the store to him on contract, dad borrowed the money to remodel it, and bought a green 1957 panel truck for the business. Mom & dad were nervous about going into debt but they were frugal, worked hard and the rest is history.
Though he never worked as an engineer, dad alway said that it gave him the courage and leverage to buy the store from grandpa and it taught him to think and solve problems.
In 1961 Dad bought new, green and white Chevy station wagon. I mention all of these cars because it was important to him. He always wanted models of all the cars he owned - one of my few regrets is that I didn’t put that collection together for him.

Son #4, Alan (very intelligent, enthusiastic, likable, reasonable, sensible) was born on March 2, 1968 (almost 12 years after Doug). Daughter #2, Angela (sweet, intelligent, headstrong, neat, stubborn, less sensible than Alan), was born on August 14, 1969 (20 years after their first child was born). These two came at time in mom & dads lives where they were more settled had more time to enjoy them. Al and Angi were a real blessing in their lives. They sacrificed some freedom but dad said “the freedom wouldn’t have brought us the happiness that they have” and “I don’t think there is a day goes by that that we aren’t thankful that we have these two”.
Wimmer’s store provided a good living and place where all of his children could learn to work and manage their own money. When you turned 12 you needed to start working and providing your own clothes and other personal things, whether it was fixing vacuums or sewing machines, selling, cleaning or the dreaded chore “sorting screws”. Incidentally, two of his offspring still have nightmares about sorting screws.
In 1969 he bought their first car with air conditioning and other whistles and bells, a Buick station wagon. His favorite car was a green 1977 Pontiac Bonneville but I eventually wrecked that one too and I have always felt very bad about it. When his father died in 1981 he bought his first Cadillac with his modest inheritance. He has been a Cadillac man ever since.
Dad started investing in real estate (other than his house and store) in about 1960. Over the years he has owned and operated rental houses, a pay parking lot, condo’s, duplexes, apartments, mini warehouses and a car lot. Some of these he built.
He owned and operated Wimmer’s Sewing Machine and Vacuum store until he sold it to Steven in 1992 and semi-retired. He had opened a second store in Layton, UT in 1981 and sold it to his nephew, Glade Wimmer, in 1994 and finished retiring. He continued with real estate investments and since retirement he really enjoyed actively trading stocks.
Wayne and JoAnn travelled extensively throughout the years visiting China, Japan, Korea, Africa, South America, most of Western Europe, the Caribbean and all 50 States. They had so much fun together!
Dad was a loner by nature. One of the things he didn’t like about school was being stuck in the classroom with “all those people”. As much as he loved his family and being with us, he would reach the point where he needed to be by himself. He called it “suffering from acute, too much togetherness”.

One of the biggest compliments he paid my mom was telling her that “being with her was as good as being alone”.
He was a skilled carpenter and woodworker and could fix anything and the homes of his family reflect those skills and his love for them. When I was young, working in the store, I remember an old man named Henry Sheeby that ran a dry cleaning business a few doors down 1st North from dad’s store. He would come in with some old piece of dry cleaning equipment that should have been replaced decades before and butter dad up by saying “if Wayne Wimmer can't fix it it can’t be fixed” - It turned out to be a true statement and dad always succumbed and helped old Henry out. One time someone asked dad how he knew how to fix a toilet and he said “he was born knowing how to fix a toilets”. We have had a lot of fun with that one over the years.
He loved to walk and would walk for miles almost every day. It was a treat for family members to walk with him . . . even if he probably preferred to walk alone. On days he didn’t walk, he would swim laps at the Sports Academy, the pool at their condo in SLC or the Las Vegas Athletic club if they were at their Las Vegas home. His name is engraved on one of the very first executive lockers at the Sports Academy & Racquet Club. He felt it was important to exercise your body and mind every day.
He wasn’t much of an outdoorsman and I don’t remember him hiking much but some of his kids and grandkids will be happy to know that as a boy he liked to hike - he and his friends would hike up Saddleback Mountain, hang out at the cave and climb to the peaks from there. He had fond memories of climbing along the “Indian wall” between 2nd and 3rd peaks.
As a youth dad didn’t really like sports. He remembered being out in the field in baseball thinking of anything but baseball, the ball coming to him and he didn’t even see it and his teammates hollering “hey Wimmer, wake up”. What he really liked to do was work. As soon as he was old enough to work at his father’s store he went to work after school rather than playing or hanging out with friends. He liked being needed, accomplishing things, always having money and the sincere praise his father gave him for his good work.
Dad learned to like team sports watching Steve & Alan (who incidentally never met a sport that they didn’t like). Alan said, "I remember that he loved my sports with me, even though it was something he didn't grow up with. He spent hours out in the yard catching the football for me and then tossing it back so I could practice. When I started to throw

too hard for him to catch, he would knock the ball down with his hands and then bend down, pick it up and throw it back to me. Even that started to be too much for his hands by the time I was playing in high school. He set up a sheet for me to throw into and then he'd retrieve the ball and return it to me."
That created a new interest in dad’s life - he really enjoyed watching and following college and pro team sports, especially if he could watch with his sons. He has had a great time following his grandchildren in their athletic endeavors as well.
Dad teased in such a fun and gentle way that it built relationships instead of adding tension. He never was sarcastic or mean with his teasing. You always knew he liked you and left with a smile after he used his humor to make a relationship or situation better.
He loved children, especially his grandkids. He liked to throw toddlers up in the air above his head and catch them. He loved to bounce little ones on his knee and sing his bouncing song "Dee- dee- de-de-.... " and they LOVED it! He played "Here comes the mouse, here comes the mouse!" as his fingers walked up a child's arm to their ear, ending with his famous squeak of their ear.
One of his favorite sayings was the 6 P’s of success. Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. That is what he told me every time I messed up my whole life - and you know . . . he was usually right! This saying has been rattling around in all of our heads for all of our lives.
Dad knew how to manage money and to save! It was important to him. If he heard about financial concerns from one of his children, or anyone else for that matter, He loved to say: "If you let me manage your money, you'll have plenty!” You might not like hearing that but it was true. On the importance of saving money, I remember dad telling me that if you haven’t saved money and a good investment opportunity comes along you won’t be able take advantage of it.
Dad loved his routines - don't move the silverware or rearrange the furniture or make him eat when it wasn't time! Exercise was part of his daily routine. He watched Bill O’Reilly at 6pm every night. Part of his nightly routine was to watch the 10:00 news then MASH (or later on Jay Leno).

He had a temper at times, but was almost always sorry. In the Alan & Angi era he was quick to ask forgiveness, with us 4 older kids it took him a little longer but heart was the same.
He also made time to visit and care for his parents as they aged. It was a great example to all of us of honoring parents. When his father was very ill he stopped and visited him every day. He was so consistent, and so loving and respectful every time we went.
As you can see, he taught us many values and principals, mostly by example (and sometimes lecture):
Hard Work,
Honesty,
Saving Money,
Diligence,
Responsibility,
Honoring your parents,
Last but not least: Love, for us, for his parents, but mostly for our mother
CLOSING
Wayne W. Wimmer ended his battle with cancer peacefully at home Saturday, April 25, 4:15PM.
Since he was diagnosed with cancer last June, he had 7 good months and a few ok months so he had time to still enjoy life and say goodbye. The last month or so was difficult for him and those around him. The Monday before he passed he decided it was time and he pretty much willed himself through what could have been a month or two of suffering in just five days.
Dad was a “mind over matter” sort of guy when it cam to sickness and pain. He claims to have never had a headache in lis life and conveniently forgot that he had ever been sick or in the hospital. The day before he died was the first time in my life I have ever heard him admit we was really in pain and he admitted it TWICE.
He realized that mom would be ok and everything was taken care of.
We will all miss him very, very much but we won’t miss seeing him decline and suffer.

Over the last couple of months, Dad told mom on several occasions that he didn’t want to go without her. Towards the end, he acknowledged to her that he had to go first because he needed her more.
I had a conversation with him one day and we talked about eventually mom joining him and that he had the best deal because it would be a short time for him in heaven but it would seem a little longer for her here on earth.
As you can see, Wayne Wimmer was a very special man.
Dad said the following about his family in his 1978 autobiography (and many times since):
“We have 6 beautiful children. We feel that they all love us and we love them very, very much. They are . . . self sufficient and . . . responsible adults. Our grandchildren are . . . very beautiful kids too.”
About our mother he said: “She was the woman for me. There just couldn’t have been anyone else.”
“How come I’ve been so lucky?”
Momma:
We all love you so much.
Dad didn't want to pass on without you but he knew you were strong and well taken care of.
Enjoy this season of your life.
You know we will all be there for you.