Wayne Rawley III

Wayne Rawley III, born 30 August 1939, died on 16 August 2025. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Virginia Davis Rawley and Wayne Rawley Jr., he was reared in the Borough of Aspinwall and attended Aspinwall schools. There he participated in the band and on the rifle team which, in his senior year, won the Pennsylvania State Rifle Championship. Following high school in 1957, he graduated from Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania, where he earned a BA degree in English and a commission in the U.S. Army in 1961. While at W&J, he joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and in his senior year served as president of that organization.
Following college, he worked briefly as the product inspector for the Hanlon Gregory Galvanizing Company in Pittsburgh. Called for active service duty in 1962, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the 14th Field Artillery Regiment in Furth, Germany. Wayne completed his active service as the battalion adjutant and later completed his inactive service at the rank of Captain. Following military service and returning to Pittsburgh, he taught English for two years at Wilkinsburg Junior High School in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. He then enrolled in the University of Pittsburgh where he was awarded the master's degree in library and information science and was inducted into Beta Phi Mu, the International Honor Society for Library and Information Science.
In 1967 Wayne was employed by the University of Iowa Libraries and retired in 2000 as a Director Emeritus, having been a Libraries' division director for many of his 33 years with the University. In addition to several library committees at the University and nationally with the Research Libraries Group, he chaired the Libraries' Automation Committee in coordination with the Universities' Law College Library staff, work which led to the transformation of most services for both library clientele and staff. He was instrumental in the expansion of the Main Library as well as many departmental libraries. Wayne was an eight-year-old member of the Universities' Board in Control of Athletics and a long-standing member of the University's President's Club.
In retirement Wayne volunteered for the University of Iowa Archives, the Johnson County Sheriff's Department, Elder Services of Johnson County and University of Iowa Health Care.
Wayne and Barbara Jean Pings were married in 1961 and had three children. They separated in 1974, and in 1976 Wayne and Janet Kathleen (Marth) Fluent were married. This brought Janet's son Robert into Wayne's family of three children.
Wayne is survived by the children: Wayne Rawley IV (Sara) of Littleton, Colorado; Robert Todd Fluent, Jr. (Lisa) of Cedar Rapids, their children Anna Elisabeth, Claire Emma, and Mara Caroline; Susan Bridgeman Rawley of Iowa City; and Steven Pings Rawley of Gresham, Oregon and his two children Emiliana Ruby Jean and Steven Ezekiel James. He is also survived by his sister Barbara Krause of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, her two children Linda Ross and Ronald Krause Jr. of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania; and her grandchildren Kaitlin Ross Griffin, Matthew S. Ross; and Alyssa Krause.
His Mother, Father, sister Nancy Davis Rawley and infant brother George Milton Rawley predeceased him as did his sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law: Ronald Krause Sr., Melvin (June) Marth, Dorothy (Benjamin Kruse), Ruth (Raymond Kohler), Louella (Wilbert Brandau), Lloyd (Velda) Marth, Lester (Doris) Marth, Harold (Patricia) Marth, Richard (Margery) Marth. Wayne's beloved Janet died most unexpectedly in October 2022 after 46 years of marriage.
Memorial contributions may be made to the University of Iowa Center for Advancement, West Park Road, PO Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244-4550 with a notation to direct the donation to the Friends of the Libraries.
Wayne's remains have been cremated. A Celebration of Life Reception will be held on Saturday, September 20, 2025 from 3:30-5:00pm at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City.