John L. Hubbard
Working with Wayne was certainly among the highlights of my time at Pierce Transit. It was always a pleasure to interact with him, even if the subject was sometimes a difficult one. Wayne was a smart, decent and kind man always in our dealings, and with all those around him. He was generally the voice of reason, a quiet voice at times, but always had the best interests of his employees, the Agency, and the taxpayers of Pierce County in mind.
He acted as a calming force for me and many others as PT weathered the difficult transition after the retirement of our long time Executive Director. In his own unique way, he managed to steer PT's finances, often behind the scenes, in a way that kept the Agency afloat, in spite of the misguided intentions of the new leadership. I always admired his low key style of management, and how he cared for and about all of the "PT Family".
On a personal note, Wayne, as my temporary boss, was good to me when it became obvious that the new leadership had decided that several of us who had served the Agency for many years should go. He acted as a buffer between me and their "games". Fortunately, I was able to retire early and walk away. Unfortunately, Wayne was not able to do that at the time.
Like many others have said, Wayne was always very glad to share a story about his life. For many of us, me included, his car repo stories were the favorites. Repo-ing a car that, unbeknownst to him, was chained to the carport it was under, will forever live in my memory, as will my enduring memories of Wayne. Rest in peace Wayne-- you greatly deserve it!