Wayne Dee Mize

Graveside services for Wayne D. Mize, 91, of Portales, will be held at 11:00 AM, Thurs., Aug. 28, 2025 in the Portales Cemetery with Peter Thompson officiating.  Greg Mize, Derek Mize, Devon Stinson, Mark Cage, Richard Cage and Jack Tarver will serve as pallbearers.  All of Wayne’s church family will be honorary pallbearers.

Wayne Dee Mize was born June 27, 1934 in Oilton, OK to the home of Mary Wilma (Rosebrough) and Fred Dee Mize, and died peacefully at his home on the evening of Aug. 24, 2025.  The family moved to Turlock, CA when Wayne was a boy.  He enlisted in the US Air Force, and served during the Korean War.  Following his discharge, he completed his high school education and attended a junior college for a short time.

It was at church that he became acquainted with a Miss Erma Mires, and they were married on Sept. 2, 1961 in Livingston, CA.  Wayne was employed at Foster Farms, and later at a tire shop before taking a job with his brother-in-law’s business selling and service typewriters.  In 1966 he moved to Kirkland, WA where he became a grounds keeper for the schools.  They returned to Turlock in 1977, and Wayne went to work in the road department for Stanislaus County.  After 20 years, he retired, and in 2003 he and his wife moved to Portales to be near their daughter and her family.

Wayne was a faithful Christian his entire life, and was an active member of the Portales Valley Church of Christ where he served as a deacon.  He loved to hunt, and had a large collection of guns and rifles.  He had even been trained as a gunsmith to service Smith and Wesson revolvers.  Wayne was an avid model train enthusiast, and had assembled an elaborate train system that filled an entire shed.

He is survived by Erma, his wife of just a few days short of their 64th wedding anniversary; his son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Tasha Mize of Broussard, LA; his daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn and Mark Cage of Carlsbad, NM; 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Charles and Nancy Mize of Hamilton, MT and Jerry and Linda Mize of Modesto, CA; and a sister, Marjorie Petersen of Turlock, CA.  He was preceded in death by his parents as well as a brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Carolyn Mize and a brother-in-law, Pete Petersen.

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