During Wayne’s time working in Milwaukee, he met and married a beautiful woman named Debbie. In 1968, Wayne was 6’7” tall, dark, thin and handsome. Debbie was short, maybe 5’.  They were adorable together. I didn’t attend their wedding, but do remember when Wayne brought her home to meet all of us after they were married.

It must have been quite a cultural shock for her. A city girl traveling to an economically depressed rural farm area and meeting this large conservative family that lived in a basement house. Debbie wasn’t like any of the girls we befriended. She laughed a lot, wore shorts and sleeveless shirts, smoked cigarettes, and used words in her conversation that we would have never used.

If I remember correctly, they lived in Milwaukee together throughout their marriage. Their union lasted a few years.  I don’t recall Wayne talking much about this time in his life.

Wayne went on to become a commercial truck driver over the road and had his CDL license. He has many stories of events on the road. One time he was working at the Mastercraft Casket Company in Ladysmith. The same place where our sister, Jane, worked in the business office. By the time he was hired on at the casket factory he had several years of driving experience.

As Wayne tells the story, one day he picked up his schedule from the owner/operations manager. The instruction was to take the truck from Ladysmith to a destination point several states away. The manager told him the exact route he was to travel to avoid weigh and inspection stations. Wayne tells his manager that he can’t drive that route because of a bridge along the way that was too low for the truck to pass under. The manager disagreed with Wayne and emphasized this was the route he was to take, no questions asked.

There were other employees listening to the conversation. Wayne says okay, I’ll take your route, but if the top of the truck gets sliced off going under that bridge, I want to make sure I won’t get in trouble. He announced to his manager that there were others listening in who will corroborate this conversation.

Wayne already knew the truck wouldn’t make it under the bridge. As he approached the bridge, he worried that the truck would get stuck and he wouldn’t make it out the other side. Since he saw no one else on the road, he sped up as fast as he could get the truck to go and hit the bridge going full speed ahead. Sure enough, the top of the trailer got sliced right off, but the truck made it through to the other side. He didn’t even stop. He checked the rear-view mirror to ensure the metal roof had landed in the ditch and just kept going on his journey to the destination without a roof on the trailer.

The caskets stayed in place, it didn’t rain, and he delivered his load. His boss never reprimanded him for that adventure. Never again did the manager require Wayne to take a specific route, just let him go the way he thought was best.

Debbie and Wayne on the day of their wedding, August 3, 1968