Albert Wayne CHRISTIAN

CHRISTIAN, LIBBY, RODGERS, TURIN, MOORE, BROWN, HOXIE, ZIMMERMAN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 8/1/2015 at 16:04:36

January 5, 1928 --- February 14, 2015

Albert Wayne Christian died on February 14, 2015, at the age of 87 years. Mr. Christian was born January 5, 1928, the third son of Albert Lawrence Christian and Harriet Mabel (Libby) Christian. He was born at their home in Carnarvon, Iowa. He married his teenage sweetheart, Marvel Deanne Rodgers, of Auburn, Iowa, on July 15, 1945, and together they made a successful 54 ½ year marriage until her death in 1999. They had one son, Steven Wayne Christian. Wayne honorably served in the U.S. Army, stationed in the Philippines at the end of W.W.II.

Wayne grew up emulating his father and worked with him in his construction business. He readily absorbed the work skills and the politics of the trade, but most of all, he became known as an expert operator of heavy equipment such as draglines, Caterpillars, and front-end loaders. He worked his early years for his father, A. L. Christian; Cook Construction of Ames, Iowa; and for himself as a partner of Estenson and Christian. Over his working years, Wayne used his skills extracting millions of tons of gravel for the building of roads, dams, airports, and public sewer systems. Wayne later worked for Sac County as its maintenance superintendent, for Jensen Construction, Noble Manufacturing, and AE Dairy. Wayne suffered with rheumatoid arthritis and heart problems. Those two health factors, plus the lack of available labor during the Vietnam War years, combined to force his early retirement from the construction business. He had a love of reading, particularly history, which he would often do in the very, early, morning hours before climbing on some machine for the day. Retirement allowed him to garden extensively and read voraciously. He developed a love-hate relationship of investing in the stock market. This particular tug-of-war continued to the end of his life.

Wayne was a 50 year Mason raised in Laurel Lodge #517, Lake View, IA. He helped build the former Masonic Temple in Lake View, which is now the American Legion Post 0133 Eilert Auen Post. He was also a past member of Wheeler Lodge #398, Odebolt, IA, and Occidental Lodge #178, Sac City, IA; and a past member of the Scottish Rite Temple, Sioux City, Iowa. Losing his wife, the mother of his only child, struck an almost insurmountable blow to his love of life and infectious sense of humor. Masonic philosophy was a very strong foundation for him throughout his life's highs and lows. When a dinner was planned to honor widows whose Masonic husbands had died in the last year, he was persuaded to attend. The evening turned into an accidental opportunity for him to meet his future, second wife, Evelyn Janice (Turin) Moore. Wayne and Janice were married on August 29, 2000. They enjoyed life on her Odebolt, Iowa farm; their joint efforts earning them the 2007 Sac County Izaak Walton League Windbreak award. However, Iowa winters prompted them to permanently move to South Central Texas in the fall of 2010.

Wayne passed away peacefully at the Peterson Regional Medical Center, Kerrville, TX, with his wife and son by his side. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn Janice, of Ingram, TX; son, Steve and his wife, Marilyn, of Nixa, MO; granddaughter, Kelly Christian and her partner, Paul Brown, of Sebastian, FL; brother, Dale Christian (Andrea), of Henderson, NC; brothers-in-law, Scot Rodgers (Ann) of Melvindale, MI, and Alvin Lewis, of Fresno, CA; sisters-in-law, Nedra Hoxie of Early, IA, and Karon Zimmerman (Earl) of Sac City, IA; and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Marvel; his parents; and brothers, Kenneth and Donald.

Inurnment will be at Ferguson Cemetery, Lake View, IA, on June 13, 2015, at 2:00 p.m., reception following at the American Legion Hall. Instead of flowers, memorials may be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Foust Funeral Home of Eagle Grove, Iowa is in charge of arrangements.