Wayne Steelman

Graveside services for Wayne Steelman, 86, of Gilmer will be held 2:00 P.M, Thursday, December 29, 2011 at Rosewood Park in Longview with Reverend Marion Palmer officiating under the direction of Croley Funeral Home in Gilmer. Mr. Steelman passed away on Tuesday, December 27, 2011 in Gilmer. He was born on August 10, 1925 in Rosewood, Texas to E. C. (Pete) and Exie Steelman, and graduated from High School in 1943 at Harmony, Upshur County, Texas. He was drafted into the Air Force in October, 1943. HE took basic training at Amarillo Air Force base, and attended Aircraft Mechanics School at Rosecrans Air Force Base at St. Joe, Missouri and worked as an aircraft mechanic on basically B-24"s and C-54"s. He received an honorable discharge in March, 1946. He worked in Dallas for the next 2 years, and enrolled in SMU in January, 1948, and graduated in January, 1951 with a degree in Accounting. He worked for Amoco Oil in Tulsa and Houston for several years, and the last 28 years of his career were spent with Frito-Lay in Dallas in various management positions, in Irving as Zone Controller, and Chicago as Zone Controller. He retired December 31, 1987 and moved back to Upshur County at that time. He married La Juan Hust on February 5, 1955 in Houston and is survived by her. They have two sons and daughters-in-law, Randal Wayne and Connie Steelman, Marcus Layne and Sharron Steelman all of Gilmer. He is also survived by his two grandsons, Dennis and his wife Deborah Wiekert of Surprise, AZ, Sandy Mac and Jennifer Taylor of Holly Lake, TX; granddaughter, Shanda and Rick Hanshew of Gilmer; 3 great grandsons, Sprint and Slade Hanshew of Gilmer and Austin Taylor of Holly Lake; 1 great granddaughter, Kendal Marie Wiekert of Surprise, AZ., sisters, Maevon Blundell of Gilmer and Shirley Williams of Arlington, TX; brother, Alton Steelman and his wife, Sandy of Gilmer; and several nieces and nephews of the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M. at the Croley Funeral Home in Gilmer