Wayne G. Maxwell

1924 - 2023

WAYNE G. MAXWELL
December 27, 1924 ˜ March 1, 2023

Wayne G. was born in Cashmere, WA, to Mary Barnes and Ben C. Maxwell. Mary died shortly after, and Wayne eventually came to be raised in the extended Barnes household with his grandmother, Uncle Fayette, Aunt Avis and Aunt Irma, and his cousins, Harold and Earl. Wayne felt he had roots in a loving family with many happy memories. This family participated in the Cashmere Baptist Church. Growing up during the Depression, it was necessary to work, including selling vegetables from grandma’s garden, delivering milk, collecting garbage and working in the Cashmere apple packing plant.
Wayne joined the Navy the day he turned 17. He trained to become an aviation mechanic and was sent to the Pacific theater. He also offered to help establish the United States’ presence on an island. After the war, Wayne worked a number of jobs, until a supervisor during his summer forest service work suggested he use that GI Bill to go to college. So, Wayne graduated from the University of Washington in 1953 with a degree in forestry and several ski jumping trophies as well.
His first U.S. Forest Service assignment was in Leavenworth, WA, followed by ranger stations at Liberty, Mineral, La Grande, OR and Tieton, WA. He loved to hike in the forests and mountains and direct a crew, and he always said he felt closest to God in nature. Eventually, Wayne was promoted to chief of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest Headquarters in Vancouver, WA. After six years at this, Wayne took a position at the federal office near Washington, D.C. Three years on the east coast was long enough to be away from extended family and the forests he loved. His final assignment was at the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland, OR, where he developed a series of books to help forest rangers in the field. He retired in 1980.
Dovetailed in all the years of college and forestry work, Wayne fell in love with Virginia (Ginny) Hasler, also from Cashmere. Together they managed not only the forest service adventures, but also a family that grew to include five children (and their spouses): Paula (husband Ron), Craig (wife Tammy), Gail (husband Chris), Mary Ann (husband Jim), and Cory (wife Jody) and 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Wayne was a devoted and loving husband and everything a dad should be affectionate, provided necessities, offered guidance and correction while modeling honesty and courage, and ensured fun was always part of life.
Wayne was friendly and smiley, creative, handy, and industrious. He made repairs and improvements on every house he and Virginia lived in, built furniture and lamps, and made a painting and other wall hangings. His greatest creation came after retirement when he felled the logs and built a log cabin on property outside of Leavenworth. Wayne and Virginia were members of First Presbyterian Church in Vancouver for over 50 years and spent much time volunteering there including helping to restore the building after a devastating fire, maintaining the grounds, and collecting bread for a foodbank.
The Bible informed Wayne’s approach to life and he was looking forward to Jesus’ “house with many rooms.”
The Maxwell clan will be interring his remains
at Cashmere City Cemetery
Saturday, July 22 at 9:30 a.m.
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