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3/12/2017

Sailors' Tribute to Wayne Truex

We are saddened by our loss of Wayne Truex, a wonderful, talented, friend, neighbor, mentor and sailor.  We will miss him greatly.  Our hearts go out in sympathy to Arlene Truex and their family.

Wayne and Arlene have been enthusiastic residents of Grandview Lake for years, and have helped make it a great place.  The Yacht Club has been just one of the Grandview Lake affiliations they have made welcoming, fun, friendly and vibrant.

Wayne and Arlene Truex at a GYC awards banquet
Shortly after they moved to Grandview, they became involved in the development of the trail system. There was a need for a large bridge on the trail just south of Bellsville Pike and west of Sawmill Road.  Wayne was the driving force behind constructing the bridge with help from a number of Grandview neighbors who decided to name it "Wayne's Bridge".  Hikers still depend on that well-constructed bridge today.  Next time you walk across it, consider what an effort it must have been to design and build, not to mention just getting materials to the remote site. Wayne was fearless when it came to taking on big projects.

"Wayne's Bridge" includes steps, two benches, railings and quite a support structure in the middle of the deep ravine on the side of a steep hill.



Wayne was a champion skipper for years, winning all of our various trophies with his crew Arlene - also a champion.  Wayne also served as Commodore of the club.   During races he was intensely competitive, an expert racer, totally focused on winning, and good at it!
Wayne and Arlene racing in the Y-Flyer

Wayne collects another 1st place trophy

As Commodore, Wayne served well as "master of ceremonies" at many an event
After the race he enjoyed handing his competitors a beer, putting his arm around them and reliving the various maneuvers they had executed against him (or he against them) at various points in the race.  He had great respect for the skill of those who gave him the greatest amount of competition.
In their last race against each other before both retiring as skippers, Wayne (right) and Bob Orben each executed maneuvers over which the other raised an official "protest". The result was they BOTH were disqualified.  This was a source of great humor to both of them and to the rest of the sailors. For it, they were jointly awarded the "Booby Prize" which they are shown here accepting.

Wayne was always encouraging others to try sailing.  He would lend out his boats, help with rigging, and give racing tips and critiques.
Wayne (right) helps John and Jack Gall rig the Truex's Y-Flyer for a race.

Wayne and Arlene's dock and home have become the center of activity on race days, with several boats rigged there before each race. It has also been the meeting place and point of departure for the Committee Boat volunteers, and the venue for our "protest meetings" and many other ad-hoc gatherings.  We even christened their place the "Home Port" of the Grandview Yacht Club.
Wayne greets the Committee Boat volunteers and orchestrates their preparation

Wayne took particular pleasure in their hosting of the post-race "protest meetings".  It seems like after each and every one you would hear him express his delight at the camaraderie and fun goings-on among the sailors and non-sailors alike who would drop in for the post-race gathering.  Wayne was gifted at conversation, making you the focus of his attention with thoughtful questions. 
A typical protest meeting at the Truex's
At a protest meeting Wayne (center) enjoys the food, and the company of Jim Riffle (left) and Kevin Preuss (right)

Wayne raises a toast to celebrate a fine season at the final protest meeting of the year.
Wayne expressed a desire on many occasions that newcomers would discover not just their new lake home, but even better than that, the fine people that make up the Grandview Lake community for whom he had such great appreciation.  And for many of us, Wayne and Arlene were among the first to welcome us.

We will miss him very greatly, and again, share our heart-felt sympathy and warmest regards for Arlene and their family.

(A few more photos are shown below)

Wayne with his visiting granddaughter Mayra at a holiday breakfast
Wayne (left) and Kevin Preuss with an ice boat.  Wayne loved to ice boat, but proper conditions only occur once every few years.  So Wayne would phone fellow sailors and have them quickly assemble to enjoy the fun while it lasted.
Dave Brown, formerly of Grandview, came to visit and wanted to race, so Wayne lent him his boat and crewed for him. These two skilled sailors together were a formidable force, but normally they would be competing against each other.
A friend was racing the Truex/Preuss catamaran and capsized.  Wayne is standing on the pontoon to keep the mast tip from pointing to the bottom of the lake.  Meanwhile Arlene prepares the Truex's ski boat to pull the top pontoon and right the capsized boat.  At the exact right moment, Wayne, a former gymnast, skillfully maneuvered himself back on top of the catamaran without getting wet.
Wayne expressed strong dislike for the ugly chamber-pot trophy that was awarded to the winner of the Labor Day Trophy Race.  So he and Arlene had a beautiful stained glass trophy (shown above) created.  The chamber pot trophy became a "booby prize" for which he and Bob Orben were the first winners (see earlier photo).

Wayne and Arlene enjoy the company of their Grandview neighbors at one of the lake's functions
Here you see granddaughter Mayra and Wayne with  modern art woodwork/sculpture entitled “Joint Effort”. “Joint” because the raw material consisted of numerous practice woodworking joints of various types, the by-products of a class Mike Mullinix had taken.   Mayra, contributed the brilliant creative design of a sculpture that joined the joints.  And grandson Tanner provided the skill and effort of actually joining the joints to Mayra’s design and specifications.   After oohs and aahs, the sailors were informed of the name of the sculpture and got into the "joint effort" spirit of things.  They added a few temporary adornments to the sculpture to make it more “nautical”, such as sweaty sailor’s hats and a beverage container. 

Note:  You are welcome to leave a comment by clicking on "comment" below.  You can also read comments others have posted. Sorry, we did not point this out until most have already read this particular post.

1 comment:

Lance and Bianca said...

We loved him. Waynes concern for, and ability to make others feel better about themselves was a true gift! He has made a greater positive impact on me than he will ever know! Rest in peace sir.