Wayne Willard Woolhiser was born in Pereira, Columbia, South America to Willard Woolhiser and Alexandra (Papandreou) Woolhiser. He was 58 years old, of Kent, died peacefully with his family present at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, WA on September 19, 2016.
He has also lived in the countries of Thailand, Pakistan, Greece, and Egypt, prior to moving to Oregon in the late 1960s because his father was in international construction. The states he has lived in also were Florida, Delaware, and Washington.
His education was a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Portland, Portland, OR in 1981. He received his Master of Science in Technical Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Renton, WA in 2001. His dissertation was on the Boeing SPEEA Strike that occurred in February 2000.
He worked at Boeing for 29 years. He worked on the Pave Pace, AWACS, Advanced Systems Technology Staff, Peace Shield Program, Electronic Countermeasures Program, B-IB, B-2, V-22 Osprey, Commercial Major/Minor Programs, FCS, and the ALCUM/CALCUM program. During his career at Boeing, he had written many specifications in software, hardware, avionics, controls, displays, testing, and radio frequency. He was a published author and was most proud receiving the Employee of the Month award from the Technology Staff. He had numerous high-level certifications and clearances as well as receiving numerous awards from his colleagues, groups, and programs throughout his career. He and his wife worked together in the Avionics group on the V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor program at the Boeing Helicopters plant in Philadelphia, PA. During the Boeing SPEEA strike, he was a picket captain. Near the end of his career, he was a systems engineer concentrating on configurations in military and commercial applications in airplanes, bombers, and weaponry.
He retired from Boeing in 2008. He enjoyed gardening, fishing, hiking, rock hounding, and working on his dune buggy. Wayne had a big heart and was loved by many. We will miss his wonderful sense of humor and stories as he liked sharing on his view of the world, hence “Wayne’s World”. He had a large family and relatives in Paleo Faliro and Thessaloniki, Greece. His wife was Karen and they were married for 31 years and knew each other for 36 years.
Wayne is survived by his wife, Karen, and his son, Alex. He is survived by his sister, Dianne C. Malloy of Gresham, OR. He is preceded by his death of his parents, Willard and Alexandra Woolhiser.
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