We are sad to announce that Wayne Mareck passed away on September 29th.  He was 85. Wayne recently moved to a care facility in Campbell River, British Columbia, to be near his two daughters, Barbara and Nancy. Julie was with him when he passed. Our sincere condolences go out to Julie, Barbara and Nancy and their families.

We first met Wayne in the Fall of 2009. He arrived at one of the Friends of John Deere’s Fall Work Days at Country Heritage Park. He introduced himself, said he had retired from working for John Deere, and had come to help. He was wearing office attire (dress shoes and pants), not work clothes like the rest of us, and seemed a bit out of place. At the time we were starting construction on a new addition to the end of the John Deere McDuffe building at the Park. There were a couple of people up on ladders attaching boards to the upright supports, with the rest of the group below watching and handing up materials when needed. Wayne quickly surveyed the situation, went back to his car, opened the back hatch and took out his toolbelt, complete with hammer and drill. He then pulled out a folded-up extension ladder, carried it over to the construction site, opened it up and immediately climbed up to help with the construction. What a pleasant surprise to everyone! Little did we know that Wayne would become one of our most dedicated volunteers. He was full of ideas to improve the John Deere building and its contents, and he worked hard to get them done. He spent endless hours working there each week, often by himself. He restored many of the artifacts for us, whether touching up or re-painting a tractor or piece of equipment with spray cans, getting the Park’s John Deere AMT to run, or completely replacing the wood on the old John Deere planter, with a finish equal to a piece of fine furniture. He was instrumental in creating the educational area inside the building, creating hands-on working samples to teach about simple machines (gears, levers, sprockets and pulleys), and show how they could be demonstrated on pieces of antique John Deere equipment displayed in the building. He even built 4 wooden benches for the school children to sit on.

When the Friends of John Deere decided to incorporatein 2016 to become Green Machinery History & Heritage, Wayne was instrumental in helping with the wording for the constitution, creating our Purpose, Mandate, and Objectives statements that are still used today. Wayne was elected as a Director for the new organization and served until 2020. He was a true leader, an innovator, and a dedicated volunteer with a great sense of humour.  It was a pleasure to work with him, and an honour to have known him.  He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.

Beverly Hughes