Wayne Losano
Gainesville. - Wayne Losano died suddenly on March 9 at his home in Gainesville. Born in New Hampshire in 1940, he grew up in Amesbury, Massachusetts and graduated as class president from Amesbury High School in 1958. He then attended Boston College with the intention of going on to seminary studies, but soon changed his mind and major. After college he taught high school in Massachusetts and met his first wife, Ellen Wampler, in 1966. Their daughter, Tonia Jaqueline, was born in 1968. In 1970 the three moved to Cambridge, New York so Wayne could pursue a doctorate in Communication at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he earned his Ph.D. He then joined the faculty at the University of Florida and taught courses on technical and business writing for the next 35 years, earning a reputation for his exacting standards, wit, and generosity as a mentor and advisor (he admitted his courses were notorious for their rigor). He spent two years as head of Technical Writing at Queensland University in Australia and, upon returning to Gainesville, served as Associate Dean for Academic Advising at UF. He was Associate Professor Emeritus after his retirement in 2007 and worked for another decade as an editor for Jones Edmunds in Gainesville. A lover of good writing, during the pandemic he had worked his way through a list of the top 100 Victorian novels, rereading even the most daunting works with gusto and recommending his favorites to friends and family. A lifelong naturalist with an equal passion for flora and fauna, he enjoyed gardening, creating a butterfly garden that maximized species diversity. He was a lifelong animal lover and adopted 17 rescue Rottweilers over a 30-year span. Along with his beloved wife of 30 years, Mary Ann Eaverly, a professor of Classics at UF, he loved trying new restaurants and was always eager to share recommendations. He is survived by his wife, daughter, and son-in-law, two grandchildren, and many friends.