In Remembrance of Wayne Carl Conlee

Son of the late Ralph and Mary Conlee of Portland, Oregon, Wayne grew up to be an honest and wonderful man. Kind, smart, loving, generous, clever, always helpful, thoughtful, and romantic, Wayne was in possession of a great sense of humor, a beautiful smile and heart of gold, and yet, sadly, although he fought very hard, in the end he lost his long battle with depression by taking his life near Benson, Arizona.

Wayne suffered from depression so please help to raise this awareness: persons affected by and suffering from mental illness, as with any other physical illness, deserve treatment and compassion, not shame or judgement. 

A graduate of Sunset High in Portland, Oregon, Wayne turned his sights to maintenance for good cause, he was excellent at it. He was employed at the Portland Coca-Cola plant for 20 years (where his co-workers nick-named him "Waynetanance") before following love and adventure to Hawaii, where he worked at Kapiolani Medical Center (also in maintenance). Eventually he took the job as the manager at Hale 'Nalo B&B, a job he excelled at because he not only maintained buildings and grounds, he also took excellent care of his guests, all of whom adored him. 

These past 11 years Wayne shared a loving home with Herlinda and their dog Sophie in Hawaii before relocating to the foothills just outside of Yosemite National Park in California. Wayne enjoyed his daily 3pm coffee and cake ritual, listening to a huge variety of music, watching hummingbirds from his favorite barcalounger. Wayne also loved getting a good massage, appreciated the stars and heavenly bodies in a good dark night sky, gave and loved getting real hugs, a round of golf with a good pal, hiking the US national parks. Wayne leaves behind a bereaved family and friends, and will be forever loved and missed.