Wayne Stewart Jones Ii

Wayne S. Jones II, 78, of Urbandale, IA, passed away peacefully Wednesday, February 14, 2024 at MercyOne West Medical Center in West Des Moines, IA. A memorial service will be at 1:00 p.m., Monday, February 19, 2024 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home & Crematory in Urbandale. Online condolences may be sent to www.caldwellparrish.com

Wayne was born on January 13, 1946 in Junction City, Kansas to Wayne and Gladys Jones. Wayne Sr. was in the Marine Corps, so the family moved to Hawaii, California, and North Carolina, where his sisters Nora and Mary were born. The family moved again to Rhode Island, where Mary was struck and killed by a truck in 1953. His sister Patty was born in Rhode Island, before the family moved to North Carolina. In 1956, Wayne Sr. was transferred to Japan, and Gladys, Wayne Jr., Nora, and Patty moved back to Junction City, where Gladys’ mother lived.

Wayne played trumpet for the Junction City High School orchestra, marching band, and jazz band; he was also in the Kays, a service organization; the Latin club; and the staff of the Blue Jay, the school newspaper. He graduated from high school in 1964, then attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, becoming a lifelong Kansas State Wildcat fan. He began to study engineering and continued to play trumpet as a member of the Pride of Wildcat Land in his first year of college. He left Kansas State to serve in the Army, with Signal Corps, after his first year. After completing his training at Fort Monmouth, in New Jersey, he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan in 1967 and 1968. He finished the last months of his service in North Carolina before returning to Kansas State. Wayne switched the focus of his degree to business, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

After graduating college, Wayne began working for the Maytag Company. He began as a Marketing Assistant in 1972, then became the Regional Manager of the Kansas City Branch, working out of Oklahoma City. In 1979, he was promoted to Manager of Marketing Training and moved to Maytag headquarters in Newton, Iowa. He was then promoted to Director of Marketing and Sales Training in 1991, and went on to become the Director of Product Marketing. Unfortunately, when Maytag downsized, Wayne was asked to retire early in late 2001. The following year, he started working for Factory Direct Appliance in Kansas City, Missouri, as the Director of Communications. In 2005, when the company opened a new store in Urbandale, Iowa, Wayne became its General Manager, starting with supervising the store’s construction, then leading the Iowa branch of the company for seven years. At the end of 2012, he began to retire, first stepping down to Assistant Manager of the Urbandale store, then retiring from that position at the end of the following year.

Shortly after he moved to Newton, Wayne began dating Diane Jasiewicz, Maytag’s Retail Advertising Specialist. Wayne and Diane dated for a year before marrying on Valentine’s Day in 1981 at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In March of 1984, the two welcomed their only child, Jacqueline. The family moved to Urbandale in 1994. He commuted to Newton daily, but Wayne deeply loved his family and always spent an abundance of time with them. Together, they especially enjoyed summer vacations to New England, Hawaii, Disney World, Canada, the Pacific Northwest, and Colorado-a perennial favorite. Wayne was a wonderful, generous man, and was the best husband and father anyone could ask for.

Wayne loved cars, especially his Zs and his Jeep; photography; mysteries and thrillers; Kansas State and Iowa football and basketball; outdoor activities like hiking, canoeing, and camping; and he developed an interest in genealogy after he retired from Factory Direct. He delved into details of his own family’s history, building on the research done by his aunts in 1986. He also helped Diane and her mother Melba piece together their family’s movements, and assisted Melba as she put together her autobiography. Wayne was a Methodist, but faithfully attended Catholic church with his family for forty years.

Wayne is survived by his wife Diane, his daughter Jackie, his beloved family dog Apollo, and his sisters Nora Jones (Robert) of McPherson, Kansas, and Patty Finlan of Camdenton, Missouri. Wayne was preceded in death and greeted in heaven by his mother Gladys, his father Wayne Sr., his sister Mary, and his much-loved family dogs Ricky and Scamp.

A Celebration of Life will be held Monday, February 19, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hope Ministries or AHeinz57 Pet Rescue and Transport.