R. Wayne Maples

Robert Wayne Maples, who went by the name of Wayne, was born in Bishop, Ca. on October 20, 1940, and passed away October 21, 2023, one day after his 83rd birthday, while on a hunting trip with his sons and grandsons, something Wayne loved to do. Wayne, and his older brother Jake, were raised by their mother Marian, in Bishop, CA and he also enjoyed a close relationship with their grandparents, Granny & Joe B, and their Uncle Chet.

Wayne played and excelled in four sports in high school: football, baseball, basketball, and track & field. He also played trumpet in the school band. He met his childhood sweetheart, Darlene Plescia, his sophomore year of high school and they eventually married in 1961 while he was a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Wayne had a lot of success with sports throughout the years. At Bishop High School he was a key player on the baseball team playing varsity for 3 years as 3rd baseman, as well as playing varsity for the football team as a fullback and being part of the historic CIF champions in 1957. Wayne was also proud of the many friendships from the class of '58 that continued for more than 60+ years with reunions, vacations, cruises, and sharing life and laughs.

After graduating, Wayne continued playing football and baseball at the collegiate level at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Luckily, he had taken a semester off the year that the football team's plane crashed and a number of players were injured or killed. He graduated with an Aeronautical Engineering degree in 1963. He then moved to Southern California as a test engineer working for Northrop. He would spend his entire 32-year career working for Northrop. While there, he completed a Masters degree in Mathematics attending USC at night. He worked on a number of programs at Northrop, including the 747 cockpit, the F-5, F-17 and F-18 fighter jets, and eventually was the head of flight test for the B-2 bomber program. Wayne was the first flight test engineer for the B-2 and designed the entire flight test program. Wayne retired in 1995 as manager of Test and Evaluation at the Northrop Hawthorne site.

Family always came first for Wayne though. He enjoyed 62+ years with his wife Darlene. They took many trips, enjoyed local So Cal friends, vacations, yearly traditions, and living life. He was a dedicated father to Scott Robert (1963) Craig Alan (1966) and Kristy Ann (1969). Wayne was a loving and devoted father. He coached his sons' baseball teams for many years and was always supportive, kind, nurturing and hands on. He was proud that his children went on to have successful careers in law, construction/business owner, and education. In addition, he maintained loving relationships with his daughter-in-law Sarah Maples (Scott) and son-in-law Michael Pachuta (Kristy). He was also very proud of all of his grandchildren watching their successes: Amanda Joyce (1989) Alicia Joan (1992) Charles Wayne (1994) Rachel Christine (1995) Robert John (1997) and Samuel Michael (2004). He is also survived by four great grandchildren: Ava Joyce (2015) Barrett Wayne (2017) Jayden Wayne (2017) and Makoa Malu (2023). You can tell by the number of offspring that bear his names how beloved he was as a patriarch. Wayne built a foundation of integrity, strength, loyalty, love, and honor for his entire family and he will be dearly missed.

Wayne is also survived by his brother Jake with whom he remained very close for his entire life - with bi-yearly visits and many laughs/conversations over the years. In addition, Wayne is survived by his in-laws and many nephews and nieces. Wayne was predeceased by his beloved mother Marian and loyal and caring step-father Don Shearer.

A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, November 18, 2023 at Brune Mortuary at 1:00 PM, followed by a short service at East Line Street Cemetery. A Celebration-of-Life is being held at Bishop Country Club later that day starting at 4:30 PM.