Wayne Preston, the
go-to-guy if you needed supplies at the BJ, passed away Thursday, February 24.
Thanks to
Advertising retiree Mike Williams, Johnny Grimm’s right-man (Mike called
himself Grimms Reaper), who dumped a truckload of tower topics articles and
photos on me.
Wayne and wife Betty
toured central Europe with Glen McCaulley and wife Joan for two weeks. Betty
was born and grew up in Germany and they visited relatives in Germany every 3
years or so.
They rented a VW
stationwagon and drove through Germany, Austria and northern Italy (where my
mother and grandparents were born) and stayed at Bed & Breakfasts.
Wayne and Betty’s
son, Eric Preston, is a Bowling Green graduate in computer science and a DJ on
the campus FM radio station WBGU with an eye toward software systems analysis
career.
Wayne was the BJ
Requisition Man, including the time he had to get a rush order to print the
spanking new Channels that I gave birth to with Jim Nolan, the man who never
used a vowel in his memos, riding herd on me.
Wayne also had a
hand in BJ’s mezzanine construction, which was between the first and second
floors at 44 E. Exchange Street.
His title was
Purchasing Manager but he reminded me of a movie character I can’t place at the
moment who found anything his ship commander wanted.
The BJ almost lost
Wayne and Mike Williams, Ron Clark, Don Baker and Bob Lewis permanently when
their raft tossed them into the Gauley River, the meanest, toughest, roughest
whitewater east of the Mississippi River, which is in West Virginia.
On another trip, Ken
Wright wound up upside-down in The Gauley. As everyone who has experienced it, including
me, knows, when you are underwater and can’t see anything you don’t know which
way is up or down so you don’t know which way to swim. I damn near downed at
Coal Hole, a fishing spot near Monongah, West Virginia, which I did a backflip
and wound up UNDER a ledge. Not knowing, of course, which way was out from
under the ledge or deeper into it. Obviously I guessed right because I’m still
alive, but it’s one scary moment.
It cured Ken Wright,
who sat alongside me for years while we coordinated computer problems for
Composing and the Newsroom. He never went whitewater rafting again.
Probably had
recurring nightmares of almost drowning while being tossed around under water
like a rag doll till the day Ken passed away.
Wayne’s obituary:
Wayne Edward Preston
Wayne
Edward Preston passed away on February 24th, 2022. He was 88.
He
was born and grew up in Akron, Ohio and later served 20 plus years in the
United States Air Force, rising to the rank of Technical Sergeant before his
retirement in 1970 while stationed at Plattsburgh AF Base in upstate NY. Prior
to that, he was stationed at US AF Bases in Turkey and Germany while also doing
a tour of duty in South Vietnam.
He
met his future wife, Elisabeth Trautner (1926 - 2009), while stationed at
Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany. They were married in 1953 and raised four children:
Bruce (1954 1968), Bernadette (Cleveland), Roger (Massachusetts, wife Sara, one
son), and Eric (Cleveland, wife Marjorie, two children). After retiring from
the Air Force in 1970, Wayne went to work at the Akron Beacon Journal as
Purchasing Manager until his second retirement in 1995. He graduated from the
University of Akron in 1979 with a degree in Industrial Management.
Funeral
service will take place on Thursday, March 3, 2022, at 12:30 p.m. at the Billow
FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd., Fairlawn, OH 44333. Friends may call from
11:30 a.m. until the time of service. Interment immediately following in Ohio
Western Reserve National Cemetery.
To
Share a Memory, Leave a Condolence, or Light a Candle, please visit the Tribute
Wall at www.billowfuneralhomes.com (Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)
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