Wayne Jester

Wayne Jester finished his chores on Earth sooner than any of us expected or wanted. But he lived his “dash” to the fullest. He worked hard and when he set his mind to something, he got it done. He touched so many lives during his 54 years. He leaves behind a legacy and imprint for so many to live by.

Wayne was born on July 24, 1969 the son of Phillip and Marlene Jester. He graduated from Union High School in 1987 and then attended Vincennes University for 2 years achieving an associate’s degree in Building Trades. Upon graduation, Wayne moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana to work for Troyer Construction then A-1 Construction advancing to supervisor and finding his strong abilities in concrete work. He usually always had more than one job when he lived in the city. One of those side jobs was working on a lawn mowing and snow plowing crew for many years with B&B Lawn Maintenance. He also was an active volunteer fire fighter for Washington Township in Fort Wayne and was elected as Chief in 1998. During these years in Fort Wayne is when he met his wife, Joyce. It took her 7 years to convince him he needed her and they married on April 15, 2000.

He started working for Milestone Contractors in May of 1998. During his 25+ year career, he advanced from concrete laborer to Richmond Area Operations Manager. He was well-known and well respected. For a few years he had a side business called Creative Concrete, where he poured colored and stamped concrete.

Wayne was very active in his community and the things he felt were important to our future. He was a board Member on Henry County REMC for 19 years and sat on the Hoosier Energy Board for 3 years. He was one of the founding board members of the Henry County Expo Center and a strong supporter of 4-H, especially the cattle program in Henry County. Wayne also sat on the Indiana Shorthorn Association board and helped with the annual Hoosier Beef Congress sale.

Wayne’s true love were his kids and all the things they do. He learned a little bit about tennis by watching Lindsey play the last 3 years. His passion was raising, breeding, showing and selling cattle, mainly Shorthorns and farming with his dad and son, Rylan. He was known to grumble when the kids (especially Hailey) would say ‘dad let’s go to this show or that show or all of the shows’, but secretly we knew his heart was full as they packed and hooked up the trailer to go again. His every day was focused on the day he could retire and do all of this full time.

Left to carry on his passion and dreams are his wife, Joyce; son, Rylan and daughters, Hailey and Lindsey along with his father, Phil and brother, Troy (Rebecca) and many other family members and friends.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Janet “Marlene” Jester, paternal grandparents, Bob & Jean Jester and maternal grandparents, Rachel and “Monk” Elliott.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, we ask that your donations go to a fund set up through Edward Jones, Erika Gilman’s office, for the kids future. There will be envelopes available at the funeral home.

Viewing will be Monday, January 1st at Hinsey-Brown Funeral Service in New Castle, IN from 2:00-8:00 pm. Service will be held on Tuesday, January 2nd at 11:00 am at Hinsey-Brown with a procession to Mooreland Cemetery. A dinner is being held at the Community Center in Mooreland following, all are welcome to attend.

Joyce, Rylan, Hailey and Lindsey want you to share your ‘Wayne’ stories, memories, how you met him, how he helped you, etc. They want to know the Wayne you knew and loved. There will be a spot at the funeral home to leave these notes, you can write a note while you are there or a QR code will be provided.