Wilbur Wayne Warner
November 11, 1933 – July 12, 2022
Wilbur Wayne Warner (88) was born November 10, 1933, in Booker, Texas to Wilbur William Warner (deceased) and Mary Aileen Warner (deceased). Wayne’s mother passed away when he was just two years old, and his father married Luch Page (deceased). Wayne lived his first fourteen years in Booker until his family moved to north central Kansas. Wayne spent the remainder of his formative years in Burr Oak, Kansas. Wayne graduated from Burr Oak High School and moved to Wichita, Kansas where he attended Friends University. Wayne studied business at Friends and graduated in 1957 with a Bachelors in Business Administration. Wayne worked for a time in Wichita but soon took the opportunity to continue his studies and entered graduate school for a Masters in Business Administration at the University of Denver completing the course work in eighteen months.
During his sophomore year at Friends Wayne met and married Patricia Lee Kaufman (deceased). Wayne and Pat were married for nearly sixty-seven years at the time of his death. Wayne and Pat lived in Denver for several years while Wayne was in graduate school and then moved for a year to Lansing, Michigan to work in the administrative office of the University of Michigan. Wayne was given the opportunity to return to Wichita and assume a role within the business office of the school district in Wichita. This position led to the offer to become the Business Administrator for Topeka Public Schools in the early 1970s. He would continue in this role until 1986 when he moved his employment to Norman Public Schools in the same capacity of Business Administrator. Wayne retired just as the millennium was turning but did not slow down. Wayne accepted a position managing a large bond fund for Yukon Public Schools which he managed for ten years until the job was done and it was time to retire for good.
Wayne is survived by his siblings Raymond Warner (Newberg, Oregon), Verla Mae Armstrong (Boise, Idaho), Velma Lee Smuck (El Dorado, Kansas), Glen Warner (Beloit, Kansas), and Bill Warner (Wellington, Kansas).
Wayne and Pat adopted a son, Wesley Wayne Warner (54) of Edmond, Oklahoma, in 1967 and a daughter, Elisabeth Anne Houk (deceased) in 1970. Wayne and Pat have seven grandchildren, Dawn Rodriguez, Alexandra Warner, Jessica Weber, Winston Warner, Caleb Houk, Sara Houk, and Mackenzie Warner. Wayne and Pat are also survived by seven great-grandchildren, Ryan Craft, Aurora Craft, Aurelio Rodriguez, Izzabella Rodriguez, Elijah John, Benjamin John, Joy Weber, Klorissa Warner, Harley Jones, and Ellie Warner.
Wayne and Pat’s favorite vacation location were the mountains of Colorado. Indeed, when Wayne was in graduate school, they would spend the weekend in the Rockies camping and enjoying the fresh mountain air. This continued into their later life, and they were often found driving out to Gunnison and spending a week or two relaxing at or above the tree line.
Services are scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Monday August 15, 2022, at First Christian Church of Edmond in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Memorial contributions can be made in Wayne’s honor to First Christian Church of Edmond’s Breakfast on Boulevard.