Obit: Clouse, Wayne Frederick (1941 - 2010)

Contact: Dolores Mohr Kenyon

Email: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 
 

Surnames: Clouse, Slieve, Domine, Raatz, Johnson, Spangler, Larson, Wuethrich, Pace 
 

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI.) March 31, 2010 
 

Clouse, Wayne Frederick (30 December 1941 - 24 March 2010) With Flag 
 

Wayne Clouse, 68, of Neillsville died Wednesday, March 24, 2010, at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield. 
 

Wayne Frederick Clouse was born Dec. 30, 1941, in Loyal, the son of Elmer F. and Rita (Slieve) Clouse.  Wayne’s father was killed in WWII in May 1945.  Rita raised Wayne, his older sister, Dianna and his younger brothers, Tom and Elmer, Jr. alone until she married Lawrence Domine.  He helped to educate the three boys in their lifelong love of the outdoors. 
 

Wayne was a vigilant sportsman.  He loved rifle, black Powder and bow hunting Wisconsin’s whitetail deer.  He was an expert tracker.  Many hunters from the Loyal and Neillsville area have sought his advice and assistance through the years. 
 

He was also an avid fisherman. Very few fish could evade Wayne’s "force feeding" technique. 
 

Wayne served his country by joining the Navy in 1959 to 1962 and was involved in the "Bay of Pigs" incident near Cuba. 
 

After his discharge he returned to the Loyal area and learned his craft of auto body work and painting at Domine Chevrolet in Loyal.  His talent led car collectors to seek him out whenever they wanted to win a car show.  His favorite cars to rebuild were ’55, ’56 and ’57 Chevys.  Dallas Wuethrich has several of Wayne’s "winners’ in his collection. 
 

Wayne and Louella Raatz had two beautiful daughters, Dawn (Johnson) of Greenwood and Renee Clouse of Loyal.  Both girls have been Miss Loyal Cornfest Queens, Dawn in ’83 and Renee in ’85. 
 

Wayne married Marlene Spangler in 1972.  They farmed her family farm on Cty Trunk K until Marlene’s death from breast cancer in 1986.   After the dispersal of the farm, Wayne moved to the Neillsville area on Owen Avenue, where he built a lovely home and developed the surrounding acreage to enhance and encourage his beloved deer herd. 
 

Wayne and "the love of his life," Brenda Larson, have lived there together since 1995.  They enjoyed many of the same interests: gardening, hobby farming, raising dogs, cats, goats and donkeys, and, oh yes, the chickens. 
 

They also spent countless hours picking berries and fruit, blackberries, elderberries, strawberries, etc., to make the wonderful homemade wine.  Weiners wine is known far and wide in the Clark and Jackson County vicinities. 
 

Wayne’s health began to deteriorate in 2001. Two stents for his heart, prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, severe bouts of shingles and finally succumbing to lung cancer March 24, 2010. 
 

Wayne is survived by his life-partner, Brenda; his brothers, Tom and Elmer; his daughters, Dawn and Renee; four grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; many nieces and nephews, including Susan, Ray, Sherrie, Bobbie, Stacy, Tammy, Tari, Lori and Michael; and countless friends. 
 

A sister, Dianna, preceded Wayne in death in January 2005. 
 

A memorial service for Wayne will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at his home at N1159 Owen Ave., Neillsville. Fellowship with Fr. Woodrow H. Pace with refreshments will follow the pond-side memorial service. 
 

Online condolences may be made at www.GescheFH.com.  
 

The Gesche Funeral Home is assisting Wayne’s family with cremation arrangements.  

Responses

I am so sorry to hear of my uncle Wayne's passing. Unfortunately, because of my fathers' (Elmer F. Clouse), lack of fatherly-like duties and lack of presence in our lives, we were sadly not notified. We all would have loved to have been there for Wayne's family, and to mourn our uncle, had we been notified.

 Although my father had three daughters, I was the fortunate one to have been the closest to Uncle Wayne, finding him more like a father figure than an uncle. He was a very kind, loving, and hilarious person, of whom I will miss tremendously. I recall at the family get-togethers, he always made me smile. Elmer's youngest daughter Taylor, remembers going up to his farm on Owen Rd, and really enjoying being up there. Wayne meant a lot to her. Our other sister, Gina, the oldest, had not the opportunity to meet him, but I know she would pass on her condolences.

Just an update to the family, everyone is doing great, I (Christine), have three children, Tian 14, Goldie 10, and Nohaila 6. Taylor has one daughter, Karlene 2. Gina I believe has three children herself.

So, I would like to add our family to the last paragraph of his obituary to include his other nieces of whom was left out. Christine, Taylor, Gina, and several great nieces and nephews.  Christine