Tony R. Wahl's Obituary
Tony R. Wahl was born on September 27th, 1984 in Puyallup, Washington and passed away peacefully on March 26th, 2025 surrounded by family and friends. Tony was born with the biggest brown eyes, he adored his older sister Annie, big brother Gary and little brother Michael. His big brown eyes experienced so much at a young age, visiting Canada with Grandpa and Grandma Higham and his first long camping trip to Lawrence Lake with Grandpa and Grandma Wahl. He also had a blast during two trips to Disneyland and numerous times to the zoo and Enchanted Village. He attended Manitou Elementary School in Tacoma. In 1995 he moved with his family to Yelm where he attended Yelm Jr. High and Yelm High School. During this time, he played baseball, football and was active in the Boy Scouts.
After high school Tony got a job at a local fiberglass production company. He moved on from there to a sales job and traveled across the country. When returning to the area Tony had numerous jobs including selling cars at his father's car lot and working for Tacoma Dodge. In 2017 Tony started driving for Pierce Transit. Tony loved driving a bus and helping people get to where they needed to go. While driving for Pierce Transit, Tony earned several customer service awards. In 2023, he started working for EcoLube Recovery. He loved working there and enjoyed everyone he worked with. Throughout his entire battle with his sickness, he could not wait to get back to work. Their support for him was incredible and his family will forever be thankful.
Tony has always been kindhearted throughout his life and made friends wherever he went. Whether it was to help feed a meal, pass out coats and/or blankets to those more unfortunate than him, he loved to help, and his kindness continued into his adulthood. He would pack up food into meals at each family gathering and pass them out to those on the streets on his way home. His big heart even led him to become a foster parent to Deavon Hertzog, a young teen on the streets he met while driving a bus. Some called Tony a Gentle Giant, and some called him a tender-hearted Bear.
Family was everything to Tony. He loved playing and buying gifts for his nieces and nephews. He especially loved the family and friend's 4th of July gathering at Lake Lawrence every year. He loved fireworks, blowing things up, loud music and he always loved a good party, especially his birthday costume parties.
In early 2023 Tony made one of his dreams come true. He bought his own home on a huge piece of property in Rainier. Tony was so proud, he could do all the things he loved; hiking, camping and riding quads or just relaxing and listening to the rain and wind.
He is survived by his parents Gary & Patti Riley of Yelm, WA, Kathleen & Dave Finch of Tacoma, WA. His grandparents, Ann Higham of Sumner, WA, Cathy & Jose Lamas of Gig Harbor, WA, Keith Stone of Chehalis, WA. His siblings Annie (Aldevon Sr) Brown, Gary (Kendra) Wahl, Michael (Faith) Wahl, Cindy (Demetrius) Brown, and Brian (Leah) Finch. His nieces and nephews. Cody, Xavier, Alex, Logan, Aldevon Jr., Julia, Conner, Hadley, Amaya, Colton & Alison. Several cousins and best friends, Nick, Ronnie & Dave V. He also leaves behind his beloved dog, Ivy Renee. Tony will be remembered for his love for life, sense of humor, and commitment to his friends and family. His legacy will live on through the memories of those who knew and loved him.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions in Tony's name be made to the American Cancer Society, https://donate.cancer.org/?campaign=searchmedia&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaignid=21603275924&utm_adgroupid=169792393161&utm_keyword=american%20cancer%20society&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-7DryazajAMVPg-tBh383SAmEAAYASAAEgJ0Q_D_BwE
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