Wayne D. Stokes

Wayne Stokes, 72, of Ithaca, New York passed away on March 9, 2026.

Wayne was born on March 17, 1953, in Toronto, Ontario to Fern and Bill Stokes. “Captain Crunch”, as he was affectionately called by the Big Red hockey faithful, made his way down to Ithaca in the 70’s, where he established a reputation as a community serving Chi Psi brother and a Cornell hockey player. Long after his own son played hockey, he committed his time to continuing to preach the word of hockey and life skills.

Wayne was devoted to his wife, Kristi Stokes, and a father to Olin Stokes (d. 1990) and Conor Stokes and his wife Brianna. Wayne was “Pops” to Brianna and Conor’s son, Roman, and their son to come Hudson. Wayne is also survived by his family in Canada, Valerie D’Ippolito, Diane Knowles, Cheryl McCracken and his nieces and nephews of his sister Donna.

Wayne will forever be remembered for his hard work and passion for hockey, spirituality and commitment to what life and the future could be through his life long work as a social worker and therapist. He could always be trusted as a mentor to guide those who found him through the toughest of hardships.

The Stokes legacy in Ithaca will live long through his many one liners. The one for today: “Always play like there’s a scout in the crowd.”

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Cornell Botanical Gardens, specifically the Houston Pond Pergola area, where you’ll find a memoriam for Wayne’s late son, Olin Stokes. The link to the donation page can be found here: Cornell Botanical Gardens