Wayne William Wenthe

Wayne William Wenthe, age 82, died on February 27th, 2025 in Scottsdale, Arizona after a short illness. Services will be held at dates to be determined at Community Church of the Verdes in Rio Verde, Arizona and at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hawkeye, Iowa. He was born in West Union, Iowa on November 30th, 1942 to William and Melva (Rappold) Wenthe. He made his home on his farm in Hawkeye and in Rio Verde. His primary school education was in a rural, one-room schoolhouse. He graduated from North High School in West Union in 1961 and from Iowa State University in 1965. While at Iowa State, he met Mary Colleen Conroy, whom he married in Mason City, Iowa in 1965. He was trained as a US Army combat medic and deployed to Vietnam in 1968-1969. Upon returning to the US, he worked in agriculture management in Illinois before returning to Hawkeye to run the family farm in 1974. To his marriage with Mary, he had four sons: Matthew, Jason, Cade, and Andrew. Mary died on June 18th, 1993. On June 29th, 1996, he was united in marriage to Cheryl Kennedy Messer. It was often said of Wayne that he never met a stranger. He was naturally curious about people from all walks of life and derived joy from learning about anyone- be they a future wife, a new neighbor, or a repairman who was called to his home. It did not matter if he was acquainted with you for decades or for an hour; he lived by the principle that every person has a unique story to tell and wisdom to impart. This philosophy imbued him with a limitless capacity for empathy, compassion, and love- as anyone who had the pleasure of meeting him can attest. Later in his life, Wayne discovered several new passions. He spent his summers planting and tending to his "Bloomin' Prairie" of flower gardens on his farm- a hobby that resulted in it being named one of the "Prettiest Farms in Iowa" by Our Iowa magazine. While spending his winters in Arizona, he became an avid pickleball and bocce player. He was a die hard Iowa State Cyclones and Chicago Cubs fan. During one of his hospitalizations in the final weeks of his life, he was successful in convincing a team of radiology professionals to delay administering an MRI until a particularly close Iowa State basketball game had concluded (the Cyclones won in overtime, 85 to 84). Wayne is preceded in death by father William Wenthe, mother Melva (Rappold) Wenthe, stepmother Melba (Staple) Wenthe, wife Mary (Conroy) Wenthe, and beloved pet dogs Buster and Sadie. He is survived by wife Cheryl (Kennedy) Wenthe; son Matthew (grandson Dalton, granddaughter-in-law Brianna, and great-grandchildren Archer and Vander); son Jason (daughter-in-law Jodi, grandchildren Jacob and Jaden); son Cade (son-in-law Rick Bejlovec); son Andrew (daughter-in-law Elissa, grandchildren Annaliese, Juliet, Cormac, and Dashel); stepson Terry Messer (daughter-in-law Shannon, grandchild Ashley (Andy) Bowers, great-grandchildren Lany, Landon, and Lucy, grandchild Skylar Messer, grandchildren Mady and Tucker (Cassie) Jones); and stepson Timothy Messer. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in Wayne's honor to North Fayette Valley Schools Dollars for Scholars Program (North Fayette Valley High School, PO Box 73, West Union, IA 52175) or Habitat for Humanity- Verdes Project (Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona, PO Box 39730, Phoenix, AZ 85069). Memorial services will be held on Saturday, March 15 at 2 pm at the Community Church of the Verdes in Rio Verde, AZ and on Wednesday, May 7 at 11 am at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hawkeye, IA. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Wayne, please visit our floral store.