Wayne John Barnes

With heavy hearts we share the news of the passing of Wayne J. Barnes on November 24th, 2023 at the age of 87.  He slipped away peacefully in the presence of his children, their spouses and many of his grandchildren. He is loved greatly and will be missed by all of his family, but we know he has been reunited with his sweet wife and other loved ones who have gone on before.
Wayne was born in Ogden, Utah, to Frank and Cecile Barnes, where he grew up and graduated from Ben Lomond High School.  He went on to Weber State College and then graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He later went back and earned a Master of Engineering Administration from the Uof U. After receiving his bachelor's degree he hired on at Sperry Rand Corporation and remained there for close to 40 years, through all the name changes, until he retired from L3 Communications. 
Irene Ranstrom was the love of his life. They grew up in the same neighborhood but, since they were a few years apart, they did not socialize together until she was in high school and he was in college. They began dating, fell in love and were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 20th, 1957. They moved to Salt Lake to attend school, had 3 kids and bought their first home while living in Taylorsville.  In 1968 they built their home in Bountiful where they had their 'bonus child', raised their kids and lived for 54 years. Wayne and Irene enjoyed serving in the Val Verda 7th and North Canyon 2nd Wards. Wayne especially enjoyed serving with the youth in the young men organization.
Wayne loved being active and being outdoors. He took his family on many boating, hiking and camping adventures around the state where he taught them to ski (both water & snow), camping skills, fishing, hunting and the love of the outdoors. He took up running for exercise in his later 30's which became as much a hobby as it was exercise. He ran the St George Marathon a couple of times and got to be a paralympic torch bearer in 2002. Later he took up pickleball for exercise and geocaching as an outdoor hobby. He has found over 11,000 geocaches all around the state and from Yellowstone to California and the isles of the Caribbean.
Wayne lost his left arm as a young boy but he didn't consider himself handicapped and didn't want anyone else to see him as having reduced capabilities. He worked hard to learn skills with 1 hand that usually require 2, so he could participate in the sports and activities others were doing and so he could share many of these activities with his children. He succeeded.
Wayne is preceded in death by his wife, Irene, his mother, father, brothers Glenn, Ray and Dean and sister Evelyn.  He is survived by his brother, Eldon, his wife Debbie, Daughter Denise, her husband Anthon Bruun, Son Vic, his wife Jeniel, Son Mike, his wife Debby, Daughter Nicky, her husband Cliff Swensen, 16 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.
Funeral services for Wayne will be held Saturday, December 2nd at 11:00 a.m. with a viewing prior to the services, from 9:30 to 10:40, at the North Canyon 2nd Ward Building, located at 3350 S 100 E, Bountiful, UT.

Services will be streamed live on Russon Brothers Mortuary Facebook page and this obituary page.