Wayne Everett Perry, 94, a lifetime Washington County resident passed away on January 29, 2014 in the Hospice wing of Northern Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, CO.
Wayne was born on December 26, 1919 in the sod house of his Perry grandparent's 1911 homestead located 20 miles southwest of Otis near the DeNova post office. He was the second of eight children and the oldest of 5 sons born to Vivian Nathaniel (V.N.) Perry and Eva (York) Perry.
He spent his childhood working and playing with his siblings on the farm helping to sweat out a living during the Great Depression which occurred during his youth. He attended most of the first 8 grades of elementary school at Craig School, a one-room school near the DeNova post office. It was only two miles from the farm, so he and his siblings walked most of the time. (Yes, even in the snow, but not uphill since the ground was fairly level!)
He loved being with his younger brother, Gerald, who was his best childhood chum. They enjoyed inventing games to play that entertained them for hours. They especially enjoyed grabbing a hold of the tails of yearlings and being pulled at break-neck speed down the creek bank as the calves tried to get away. They also spent a lot of time walking on home-made stilts and taught their younger siblings how to build and walk on them too.
Wayne loved spending time with his dad, who he considered to be the greatest man in the whole world! He took advantage of every opportunity to go to the fields with him and learned how to farm using a team of horses. He also learned how to play a harmonica while spending much time herding sheep. It became the musical instrument he played throughout his lifetime.
He attended High Prairie High School and graduated with the class of 1940. Among the other classmates, was his future wife of 65 years, Lorainne Young. They began dating in January 1939 and were married on November 21, 1940 in the home of her parents, Opal & Birdsall Young Sr.
Soon after their marriage, they rented a small farmhouse a mile south of the Perry homestead where they farmed, raised livestock and began their family. Their first of five sons, Elvin was born in 1942 and Bernard was born in 1944.
In March 1946, they moved to Otis where Wayne worked at the Sipple Oil Company's Skelly service station driving a fuel delivery truck for a few months. In October 1947, he began employment at the Rehder Grain Elevator that lasted almost 12 years. During that time, Eugene was born in 1948, Bruce in 1951, and Gilbert in 1954. In March 1959, Wayne decided to get back into farming and bought out a custom farming business from Emanuel Anderson. He moved the family to a rented farm a few miles southeast of Otis where they lived for a couple of years before moving to another farm 8 miles south and 3 west of Otis. They soon began a grade B dairy there and were very busy doing farm work as well as running the dairy for several years.
After all the boys were raised and had left home, Wayne & Lorainne bought a retirement home in 1984 on the west side of Otis, where Wayne resided for almost 30 years.
During his retirement years, Wayne enjoyed helping with the farming of his land as well as that of the younger boys. He liked running a swather so he bought a new one sometime after Lorainne's death in 2006 to help out. He especially loved to run combines during harvest and would sometimes work 7 or 8 hour days harvesting corn, millet, and wheat. He was still able to do that as he approached his 94th birthday and helped with the last corn harvest that ended in early November 2013, just a few weeks before his death.
Wayne was a firm believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and was a follower of his teachings for all of his adult life. During his four-week hospitalization at the end of his life, he expressed his gratitude for God's blessing of having lived a good and long life. He was grateful for the lasting mental gift of being able to manage his financial affairs and to do his own income taxes as well as those of several other people. He was very appreciative of the physical ability to drive his own vehicles, live alone in his own home and to be able to walk without a walker or a cane. He expressed kindness and thankfulness to the nurses who cared for him during his demise those last few days of his life.
Wayne loved to watch game shows, baseball, football, and reality shows on T.V. He was an avid fan of the Rockies and Broncos. When he wasn't watching all this excitement, he was busy working Sudoku puzzles to keep his mind challenged. He also liked to listen to classical country music.
He was an inspiration to many and was truly a good husband, father, grandfather and friend. It will be difficult to adjust to not having him with us after all these years.
Wayne will be greatly missed by his five sons, Elvin, Eugene (Diann) Bruce (Linda) of Otis, Gilbert (Joy) of Brush, and Bernard (Betty) of Milliken, 14 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great grandchildren. He is also survived by one brother, Francis Perry and wife Coeta of rural Otis, two sisters, Phyllis Campbell and husband Melvin of Yuma, and Darlene and husband Birdie of rural Otis.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Lorainne in April 2006, his parents, a sister, Evelyn Crowfoot and husband Thayer, three brothers, Gerald Perry, Marlyn Perry, and Rolland Perry and wife Thelma, a daughter-in-law, Donna Perry and one granddaughter, Sherry. He also leaves behind several nephews and nieces as well as brother-in-laws and sister-in laws.
Funeral Services were held at the Yuma Nazarene Church on Saturday, February 1, 2014. Interment followed in the Otis Cemetery. Memorial contributions in Wayne's name may be made to the Otis Cemetery Association.