Wayne J. Hammel

WAYNE J. HAMMEL

Lansing

Wayne J. Hammel, 84, of Lansing, Iowa, formerly of Cedar Rapids, died on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, at Thornton Manor Care Center, Lansing. Private Family Funeral Service: 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13. Burial: Mount Calvary Cemetery, Cedar Rapids. Friends and extended family are invited to watch the service via livestream. Please find the livestream link on Wayne's tribute wall and share your support and memories with his family at www.stewartbaxter.com under obituaries. Arrangements are with Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services, Cedar Rapids.

Survivors include children, Cindy (Jeff) Lesmeister of Cedar Rapids, Sherry (Phil) Rilett of Indio, Calif., Pam (Brent) Champion of Kalispell, Mont., Craig Hammel of Wadena, Iowa, and Brenda (Larry) Thoele of Kansas City, Mo.; sisters, Jean Smock, Carol Opfer and Shirley Stortz; grandchildren, Wendy, Matthew, Cari, Lawrence and Brendan; and great-grandchildren, Adam and Grace.

Wayne was born Jan. 18, 1937, in Lansing, Iowa, the son of Paul and Adeline (Troendle). On Aug. 10, 1957, he married Karen Schulte at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Waukon. Wayne and Karen settled in Cedar Rapids where Wayne had multiple jobs throughout the years and ultimately built his own business remodeling and building homes. As times would change, so did the work that he found to ensure he was able to support his family. Karen was the silent strong partner behind all of this and he always said he could not have done any of this without her. After Karen had passed and Wayne's health began to limit his ability to keep his home in Cedar Rapids, he chose to move to a retirement home in Lansing, Iowa.

Wayne loved his family, friends and doing what he thought was right. The greatest love he had was his wife Karen who polished his rough edges and complemented his personality for the rest of the world to experience his good qualities. Wayne worked hard first and played hard when the work was done. He was a perfectionist as a carpenter and many other activities in life. There was a bit of mischief in Wayne his whole life as is apparent in the story he would tell of the time when he was young and started a fire of leaves under his grandpa's window. He didn't think Grandpa Pierce could run fast enough to catch him -- but he was caught! You could see that mischief in his eyes throughout his life and knew there was something to look out for -- hoping you weren't on the receiving side of that.

Wayne was preceded in death by his parents; wife; and brother, Kenneth.

Memorials can be sent to Cindy J. Lesmeister, 4150 Midway Dr. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52405.