Wayne Douglas Ginther

Wayne Douglas Ginther, 82, of Lacey, WA, a beloved husband, father, and adventurer, passed away to be with his Heavenly Father on August 3, 2023. He was surrounded by his family.

He was born on October 8, 1940, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Robert and Pearl Ginther.  When he was a toddler his parents moved to Puyallup, WA.  Wayne lost his father in a plane accident at a young age and grew up in the Puyallup Valley with his mother and seven siblings.  Even though his father died in a plane accident Wayne developed a lifelong love of aviation.  He piloted small engine planes, was an avid glider pilot becoming president of the Puget Sound Soaring Association for several years, and chose a career where he designed and drafted the big jets of Lockheed and Boeing.

Wayne loved being active.  He was an experienced hiker, skier, and an incredible water feature landscaper.  Wayne climbed numerous mountains in the Cascade Range and summited Mount Rainer seven times, including one time with his son, David. Wayne also was an independent business owner from a bible bookstore to a European import store to hot tubs.  He thought of life as an adventure which he eventually wrote about later on in his life.

Wayne wrote in the introduction of his faith-based book The Adventure…The Word…The Challenge…:

Many adventures will be a positive experience, but there are others that will be negative in nature…The challenge for all of us to look on life as an adventure.  We should learn from both the positive and negative experiences, while striving to enjoy those times in between adventures as well as during the adventure. The greatest adventure that any of us can have is in knowing God and I have been blessed with a lifetime of knowing Christ...Growing in faith is the greatest adventure of all and may God bless your life’s adventure.

Wayne loved adventure and brought laughter and fun with his great sense of humor to everything he did.  His smile was contagious. He was an encourager and a role model to his children and others for finding the positive in life and learning from the negative.  He loved a challenge and met each challenge with resilience and faith.  He was bold, but not foolish, as he was always well prepared.

Wayne graduated from Puyallup High School in 1958 where he was a long-distance runner on the track team. He attended the University of Washington for a few years before enlisting in the Coast Guard during the Vietnam War.  After serving his country he earned an Honorable Discharge and pursued other adventures.

Wayne married Judith Doering in 1970 at Immanual Lutheran Church in Puyallup, WA.  As newly-weds, they moved to eastern Washington and settled in the Lower Yakima Valley for 17 years.  Together, they had a daughter, Christine, and a son, David.  In 1987 they returned to Puyallup, WA.

In his 50s Wayne went back to college at City University of Seattle to finish his Bachelors and then went on to earn his Masters of Business Administration in 1998.

Wayne was a faithful member of the Mountain View Lutheran Church for over 40 years. He left no doubt about his Christianity in anyone’s mind as he concluded each before-meal-prayer with the words, “Praise the Lord”.

He is survived by his wife, Judith; daughter, Christine (husband, David); and grandchildren (Katherine and Jonathan, of Chehalis, WA and Sarah of Lacy, WA) and great granddaughter (Lylah) of Lacey, WA; son, David (wife, Angela); and grandson (Jurgen) of Lacey, WA; his older sister, Gloria of Duluth, GA, (children, John, Allison and Kristin); older brother, Lorin of Tacoma, WA, (daughter, Lori); younger sister, Roberta of Tacoma, WA; younger brother, Ronald of Puyallup, WA.

Memorial Service: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 26,  Mountain View Lutheran Church , 3505 122nd Ave E, Edgewood, WA  98372