Obit of Deason, Wayne O'Neal - Stephens County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 18 Nov 2007 Return to Stephens County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/stephens/stephens.htm ===================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ===================================================================== ::NOT LISTE Deason, Wayne O'Neal Wayne O'Neal Deason July 18, 1940 - March 18 2007 Wayne passed away at home in Marana, AZ, surrounded by family, after a long struggle with cancer. He was born in Duncan, OK, the son of Lester and Gertrude Deason. He is survived by Kathy, his wife of 45 years; his children, Jennifer and Matthew Deason, and Kristen Adcock; son-in- law, Jesse Adcock; three grandsons, Donovan, Connor and Aidan Adcock; and his brother, Cliff Deason. Upon receiving an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy in 1961 he married his high school sweetheart, Kathy Brown. In 1962 he began his higher education studies earning a B.S. and M.S. and a Ph.D. specializing in aquatic bacteriology from Colorado State University. In 1970 he moved to St. Louis, MO to work as a research physiologist for McDonnell Douglas Astronautics. He began a 32 year career with the Bureau of Reclamation when he moved to Boulder City, NV in 1972 where he was responsible for biological studies in the Lower Colorado River Region. He transferred to Washington, D.C. in 1979 and was promoted to Senior Environmental Specialist. In 1988 he moved to Denver, CO where he continued his role in environmental leadership. He became Deputy Director for the Office of Policy and was acting Director of that office when he retired in 2004. During his professional career, Wayne received many honors and awards. Wayne was very interested in his Scottish heritage and for many years was active in the St. Andrew Society of Colorado serving as Chieftain in 1994-1995 and 1998-1999. In 1991 Wayne co- founded C.A.S.T. for Kids (www.castforkids.org), a non-profit organization that joins volunteers who love to fish and disabled, disadvantaged or terminally ill children for a day of fishing. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to TMC Hospice, 5301 E. Grant Rd, Tucson, AZ 85712 or C.A.S.T. for Kids Foundation, 227 S. W. 41st St., Renton, WA 98057. A memorial service honoring Wayne will be held at St. Marks United Methodist Church, 1431 W. Magee Rd., Tucson at 3:00 p.m. on March 29, 2007. Published in the Tucson on 3/25/2007. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Stephens County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/stephens/stephens.htm