Wayne Kent Steidley
Wayne Kent Steidley
Wayne Kent Steidley died peacefully in his sleep on May 13, 2017 at the age of 86. Wayne was born on February 10, 1931 on the family farm in Novelty, Missouri, the youngest and seventh child of Virgil and Phoebe Steidley.
Wayne left the farm at the age of 19 to begin his career in the United States Air Force, where he served 20 years. Wayne was a pioneer in developing the sentry dog program for the Armed Services with tours in Texas, Arizona, England (three tours), Libya, Alaska and Tennessee. After his retirement from Air Force in 1970, Wayne was selected to assist in the development of the drug detection dog program for the U.S. Department of Customs serving another 17 years of federal service in San Diego and Tecate CA., Yuma, Az and Dallas, Texas. He concluded his government service as a supervisor for the National Guard Armory in Grapevine, Texas. Overall Wayne dedicated 41 years of his life to law enforcement before retiring the to the Hill Country, where he spent much of his time in the continued service of others.
Wayne loved to garden, and to fish, and he could drive anything that had wheels, and fix or build almost anything that was not a computer. Mostly he loved people, and helping and laughing with them.
Wayne is survived by his loving wife Patricia, and his sons Jeff, Michael and Darrell, his daughters-in-law Jan, Gail, and Eileen, his grandchildren Rachael, Amalie, Winston, Erin, Darrell Jr., Wayne, Tasha and Amanda Steidley, and his great grandson Oren Kent Steidley. Wayne was far from perfect, but he was a good man. He will be dearly missed by the many who loved him.
Services are scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017 from 1-4 p.m. at Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home 1805 Hwy. 281 N., Marble Falls, Texas 78654. Wayne will be given full military honors at his interment at Ft. Sam Houston VA National Cemetery at 9:45 a.m. on Monday May 22, 2017. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Wayne’s name to Living Love Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 1266, Marble Falls, Tx 78654.
