Wayne L DeLeeuw

Wayne L. DeLeeuw passed quietly from this life to the next in the presence of his beloved wife and son on November 10, 2022, at his home in Willard, Utah. He was born May 12^th, 1955 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Loren Wilford and Geraldine Breinholt DeLeeuw. His birth was welcomed by his dear big sister, Kathy (Kathleen).  Wayne loved spending time with his Grandparents DeLeeuw and Breinholt in rural Utah and learned from them and his parents how to shoot straight and work hard.  He was a youth skeet shooting champion and loved family camping trips with his cousins.

One of the greatest influences in Wayne’s life was his involvement in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), starting when he was 8 years old. The BSA provided him with foundational role models, friends, and experiences which molded his life. It also led him into activity within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Wayne attended Granite High School, where he enjoyed classes in building trades and automotive shop. After graduating from high school, Wayne attended Utah State University in Logan, UT, and worked in Logan as an auto mechanic. He had a brilliant mechanical mind, and was thrilled to later become a business partner in the “Im-Pruv-All Tire Center” in Logan, UT. During this time, Wayne met his eternal partner Eileen Richards, a fellow USU student, at the student apartments he managed. After a brief courtship, they were married in the Ogden, UT, temple. He cleverly arranged to be married on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1981 so that he would never forget his wedding anniversary. His plan worked most of the time.

Wayne and Eileen settled down in Logan, Utah and had 5 children. He cherished working with disabled adults in a workshop setting at Cache Industries there. Wayne was always there for his family and delighted in taking them camping and on canoe rides, playing Rummikub and other board games for Family Home Evening. He always made attending their never-ending soccer games and school events a priority.

The family later moved to the Richards Family dairy farm in Erda, (Tooele County) UT, where Wayne was integral in keeping all the mechanical equipment and processes running smoothly and the milk flowing freely. He later worked as a maintenance mechanic with Fluor Corporation at the Kennecott Refinery. After a lot hard work and study, he tested to become qualified as an equipment safety inspector there. He took a lot of pride in (and told lots of stories of) anticipating and preventing millions of dollars in lost productivity for the company.

Wayne delighted in continuing to participate in scouting activities throughout his life as a Scoutmaster and in other local and regional leadership positions. He was the type of role model to his scouts that he had been so blessed by in his own youth. In 2002, he was nominated for and received the prestigious “Silver Beaver” scouting award. He was recognized by BSA for having participated in scouting for 50 years. (The total would grow to 54 years).

Wayne was a fun-loving and affectionate grandpa to all of his 19 grandkids. He loved to tease them, pull funny faces, and make “dad jokes.” He attended their activities whenever he could, including in the last months of his life when it took him a lot of painful effort to move.

Wayne is survived by his wife, Eileen DeLeeuw; his five children, their spouses and children: William & Jessica DeLeeuw and their children Zachary, Brian, Trevor, Alex, and Ella; Heather & Joseph Gonzales and their children Tehya and Mercutio; Holly & David Sebring and their children Sydnee, Mason, and Paige; Katherine & Curtis Bevan and their children Will, Reed, Eli, Faye, and Afton; and Rebecca & Chase Smaellie  and their children Benson, Isaac, Walter, and Penelope (aka Pickles). He is also survived by his sister, Kathleen & Bill Devore; many cherished sisters- and brothers- in law; and his loved nieces and nephews.  

He is preceded in death by his parents, Eileen’s parents, and his brother and sister-in-law Calvin A. Richards and Gloria Ann Richards.

Wayne’s was a simple life, lived well; his steady, loving presence strengthened his family and the impact of this love will ripple and expand exponentially through them into eternity. The soaring cathedrals of the human family are built of simple stones like these.

Services for Wayne will be held on Saturday, November 19^th at 2:00 p.m. with a public viewing from 12:30 until 1:30. They will be located at the Willard church building at 665 West 7615 South Willard, Utah. For those who would like to join us, but can't be there in person, Russon Mortuary will be live streaming the service which can be found posted just below this obituary. The streaming will begin 10-15 minutes prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers Wayne would be thrilled for donations to be made to our local Scout Troop 589 by Venmo to @Patt-Bott or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Humanitarian Services https://philanthropies.churchofjesuschrist.org/humanitarian-services/