Wayne Oliver of Prescott, AZ, was born on June 14, 1938, in Gadsden, AL. He passed away on June 20, 2020, in Prescott after battling colon cancer for the past three years. Wayne was a wonderful husband, dad, papa, great-grandpa, brother, and uncle.
Wayne is survived by his wife of 60 years, Carol Oliver; son Kelly Oliver and daughter-in-law Tracee Oliver; daughter Kim Cross and son-in-law George Cross; four granddaughters, Krista Jennings, Katie Cross, Ashlie Oliver, and Julie Mitchell; grandson, Dylan Oliver; great-grandson River Easley; great-granddaughter London Mitchell; brother Lyman Hays; sister-in-law Kathy Knoblauch; brother-in-law Paul Knoblauch; and brother-in-law Mike Crutchfield.
Wayne came to Phoenix at age three and graduated from North Phoenix High School in 1956. He worked at Garret Corporation Air Research where he started in pneumatic controls, then later transferred to the air turbine department and designed air turbine starters for jet engines. In 1965, Wayne left air research and worked at ITT Cannon Electric. He worked in interconnect devices for military and space operations, where he designed cable and interconnect for Gemini, Apollo, and Lunar Modules, Mercury, and the moon rover. He often told his grandchildren, “your papa has junk on the moon.” He was quickly promoted to General Manager at the Phoenix division. In 1975, Wayne was transferred to the Santa Ana, CA, headquarters of ITT Cannon as Vice President of Marketing, where he eventually became President of ITT Cannon and furthered his career by becoming VP of ITT Corporation. At the time of his retirement in 1991, he was President of ITT Cannon world-wide, running 23 ITT companies around the world.
After retirement, Wayne and Carol moved to Parker, AZ, and enjoyed life on the river. Wayne did not stop there, as he build a boat shop, developed Miraleste Estates, and was the construction manager of the first Indian Casino in Parker. Wayne and Carol then moved to Lake Havasu City, and finally, to Prescott, AZ.
Wayne enjoyed a variety of activities and hobbies, all of which involved his family, from water skiing, boating, and boat racing, to dirt bike riding, motocross racing, off-roading, snow skiing, golfing, playing guitar, and traveling around the world with his wife. He also enjoyed spending time at the family cabin in Happy Jack, AZ, where he loved working on his backhoe and quad rides through the forest with his kids and grandchildren.
Wayne will be missed by all who knew him. His humor, zest for life, and love of family were just a few of his outstanding qualities. A memorial service for Wayne will be determined at a later and safer date.
*All obituaries are submitted by family and friends of the deceased.
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