Edwin LeRoy Bayne

      Edwin L. Bayne, age 95 died September 27, 2023 at the Spencer Hospital in Spencer, Iowa.  Born October 5, 1927, in Detroit, MI, Ed was the son of William Leroy and Grace Bayne.  On July 23, 1970, he married Mary Louise Morrison Wilkerson in Washington, Iowa.

     A 1945 graduate of Oakville, Iowa High School, Ed graduated from Wesleyan College in 1975.

     Ed was a U.S. Army veteran.  He served in the G2 Section of 8^th Army Headquarters in Seoul Korea during the Korean War.  After military service he operated a farm for nine years with his grandfather, Arthur Bayne.  He joined the General Electric Company in Burlington, Iowa in 1963.

     Ed was a member of the United Methodist Church in Wapello, Iowa.  He was also a member of the Oakville, Iowa American Legion, the late Wapello Kiwanis club, Wapello Trees forever, the Louisa County Heritage Society, and Post 5166 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.  He served on the Board of Trustees of the Keck Memorial Library in Wapello for many years.  In 2015, he received the Community Caring Award from the Community Foundation of Louisa County in recognition of volunteer work he had given the community.

     Ed left a mark on the Wapello community he loved.  He knew the Keck Memorial Library made a positive impact on the quality of life in the community.  He turned that thinking into action when he was successful in getting a significant grant that helped fund a major addition to the library.  He seemed to fall into fundraising efforts, with success.  He obtained a sizeable grant that helped fund the all-weather track the Wapello schools enjoy.  Then he teamed up with World War II veteran, Ray Werner, to establish a committee that raised funds that made the All Veterans Memorial in the Wapello Courthouse yard possible.  He was drafted to help when his wife took the helm in a project that moved an old church to the Louisa County Historical Society grounds where they then had it restored to new like condition.  The vinyl fence along the museum grounds is there thanks to Ed and Kenny McChesney.  He played a leadership role in planting hundreds of trees in Wapello’s parks, along highway 61, and throughout the community.  For several years he could be seen using a Wapello Fire Department tank truck to water newly planted trees.  He loved to work in his yard and garden.

     Ed felt he was extremely fortunate to serve on a committee led by Tom Woodruff that was successful in establishing a memorial to the six Littleton brothers from Toolesboro, Iowa who gave their lives in the Civil War.

     For several years, Ed enjoyed a round of golf with other GE retirees who, he often noted with a smile, would not give him the handicap he deserved.  He enjoyed the highlight of his golfing career when he played a round on the course at Saint Andrews in Scotland.  He knew the ghosts of many a golfing great were watching in horror as he hacked his way around that course.

     Ed and Mary Louise enjoyed traveling in the U.S. and overseas.  They made several trips to Scotland, where Ed’s mother was born and to England to see relatives.

     Ed was a loving and caring husband to his wife, Mary Louise, who, he says, “Was a partner who made life a great adventure.”

     Ed is survived by a step-son, Dr. Rick Wilkerson & his wife Barbara of Spencer, IA; a step-daughter, Pamela Ellison of Phoenix, AZ; 11 step-grandchildren: Blake & Sharon Johnson of Ames, IA, Tyler Naifeh of Hollywood, CA, Erin & Tony Lewis of Kelowna, British Columbia, Lauren & Porter Hall of St. Paul, MN, Caralyn & Mark Ivey of Ashford, VA, Gregory & Mayzin Wilkerson of Yangon, Myanmar, Mathew Wilkerson of Chicago, IL, Katelyn Wilkerson of Spencer, IA, Daniel Wilkerson of Sioux Falls, SD, Breanna Wilkerson of St. Peter, MN and Junior Wilkerson of Spencer, IA.  Ed also had 16 step-great grandchildren.  A brother, Fred & his wife, Norma of Wapello, IA.

     Following cremation, a Celebration of Life will be held at the Wapello Methodist Church at a date yet to be determined.