Wayne Arthur Harrison

Feb 07, 1947 - May 14, 2022

Obituary

Wayne Arthur Harrison was born in Los Banos on February 7, 1947 to Art and Norma Harrison. He grew up with siblings Jerry, Margie, Faye and Lorna. He earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in Agriculture Business Management in 1969 at Cal Poly. He married Barbara Ann Saye on September 6, 1969. I...

Services

May 28

Service

Saturday, May 28, 2022
11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Los Banos Sportsmen's Club

13989 S. Mercey Springs Road
Los Banos, CA 93635

View Info

Wayne Arthur Harrison

February 07, 1947 - May 14, 2022

  Larry Wiley July 9, 2022

Wayne and I went through school here in Los Banos and then we wound up at Cal Poly together with Ron Simmons, Anthony Silva, Gary Woo and Cathy Silva joining near the end of our time at Cal Poly.
I remember one time Wayne had an ROTC inspection and needed a haircut for the inspection and he decided to give himself one, I do not know how he passed the inspection.
My most memorable memory of Wayne was when he found an old derelict International truck in a farmer's field outside of San Luis Obispo and bought it. Wayne decided to drive the truck home to Los Banos. He needed to get the engine water radiator repaired before he could drive the truck. He took the brass engine radiator to a radiator repair shop in SLO, the owner did his best, but it still leaked. The radiator shop owner would not let Wayne pay for the work but wished Wayne the best of Luck.
Wayne asked me to go with him to drive the old truck back to Los Banos. That was some trip. We left Cal Poly around noon, and it took until midnight to finally reach Los Banos, we measured our mileage in not miles per gallon of gas but in miles per gallon of water. The trip took us over Cuesta Grade (A very steep climb) coming out of SLO, through Paso Robles across Highway 41 to the Avenal area where it was customary to take the road through Coalinga, but because of the lack of water sources along that road, we traveled on eastward through Kittleman City to Tranquility where we got on Highway 33. This route took us through an area with lots of farming sources to refill the water cans we needed to make to Los Banos.
Let me describe this truck. The cab was old and rusted, the bench seat had very little covering with springs showing through, the floorboards were rusted out and had very minimal area for our feet (we could see the roadway passing under the truck and the driveshaft turning). The bed of the truck had only a few complete and somewhat solid boards left (just enough to hold 4 or 5 five-gallon cans of water that were tied to the truck bed frame.)
Wayne and I often joked about that trip.
Somehow Wayne eventually restored that old truck and proudly drove it around town.
Wayne your memory will live on in me!

Sign in to share your memory

We'll never post without your permission


or use your email

By adding a comment, you agree to the following privacy notice and conditions of use

Email Directions

Enter an email address below.
Please separate multiple emails with a coma.

Text Directions

Enter a mobile number below

Get Updates

Sign up to receive a notification daily whenever there is an update on this obituary.

OR
Types

Thank you for sharing!

Provide comfort for the family by planting a tree in memory of Wayne Arthur Harrison

Plant a Tree