Wayne Douglas Hawes was born on April 8, 1947, in Adrian, Michigan, to Isaac and Edith Hawes. Throughout his life, Wayne became known for his intelligence, determination, generosity, humor, and unwavering faith. Whether solving impossible technology problems, serving his community, Restoring lighthouses, cheering for the Buccaneers, or traveling the country with those he loved, Wayne left a lasting impact everywhere he went.

Wayne graduated from Adrian High School in Michigan, in 1965, where he excelled in football. Playing both offense and defense, he was recognized as the Top Offensive Player and was named to the 1963 All-County Football Team.

Wayne began his professional career in 1966 in Hastings, Michigan, as an IT programmer at E.W. Bliss Manufacturing. In 1977, after his mother and stepfather relocated to Florida, Wayne moved to Tampa and began working for Eckerd Drugs. There, he earned the nickname “The Clean-Up Guy” because whenever systems failed or problems seemed impossible to solve, Wayne was the person everyone trusted to make things right.

In 1965, Wayne married Karen Schuler, and in 1969 he lovingly adopted her son, Brian. After Karen’s passing while they were living in Florida, Wayne continued forward with strength and resilience.

After the death of his first wife, while working at Eckerd, Wayne met Judi Griffin, who also worked in IT operations. Through the encouragement of Wayne’s boss’s wife, who happily played matchmaker, their friendship grew into love. Wayne and Judi married in March 1978 and began their life together with an RV honeymoon — a fitting beginning to a lifetime of adventure together.

Wayne’s remarkable talents in information technology led him through an extraordinary career. He worked in West Palm Beach as a programmer and Department Head at Good Samaritan Hospital and lead a major programming/hardware initiative that was expected to take two years but was completed by Wayne in only nine months. His reputation continued to grow, leading Moffitt Cancer Center to recruit him in 1985 to build and oversee their entire data center before the hospital even opened. Later, University Community Hospital recruited him for their IT department, and in 1993 he became Director of IT at South Florida Baptist Hospital. From 1997 to 2006 he worked with RAMS, and in 2007 he joined ActSoft in IT Quality Assurance, retiring on June 5, 2020.

After retirement, Wayne and Judi embraced life on the road, traveling across the country in their RV and creating friendships everywhere they went. One of Wayne’s favorite places were Tampa’s Cooper’s Hawk Restaurants, where their favorite waitresses, Karen, at the Tampa Restaurant affectionately nicknamed him “The Mayor of Cooper’s Hawk.” Together, Wayne and Judi visited 23 Cooper’s Hawk locations throughout the country on their travels, saying each one felt like home.

Wayne’s passions extended far beyond his career. In 1978, he and Judi joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Booster Club, where Wayne later served as President in 1990 and 1991. When the original Tampa Stadium was demolished, Wayne proudly purchased one of the stadium benches, which still sits beside their RV today.

Wayne also developed friendships and pen pals with members of the U.S. Football Rules organization in Australia. Through his connections with Buccaneers staff, he helped coordinate a partnership that brought former Buccaneers players Sam Anno and John Cannon to Australia, as guests of the US Football Rules group, to assist with football development and officiating instruction.

Another lifelong passion of Wayne’s was lighthouses. He served as President of the Florida Lighthouse Association from 2003–2004 and was an active member of the Tampa Bay Harbour Lights Collectors Club. Wayne devoted countless hours helping restore the historic Anclote Key Lighthouse after it had fallen into disrepair following its decommissioning by the Coast Guard in 1984. He was instrumental in establishing the State of Florida Lighthouse specialty license plate program and worked tirelessly alongside many dedicated volunteers to help restore and relight the lighthouse. On September 13, 2003, the light once again shined from Anclote Key Lighthouse — a proud moment in Wayne’s life and a lasting legacy for generations to come.

Wayne was also a founding member of Keystone Community Church and faithfully served on not only on the church’s Board of Directors but also played many a part in the various cantatas the church presented for special holidays. One of his favorite stories involved the church’s purchase of its property. During difficult negotiations with the bank, the loan was initially denied because of confusion regarding roof repairs. Although he had been advised not to contact the bank, Wayne felt God leading him otherwise. After much prayer, he called the bank directly and discovered the bank had confused Keystone with another church. The misunderstanding was corrected, and the loan was approved the very next day. Wayne always credited God’s guidance and faithfulness in that moment.

Wayne’s life was built on faith, service, loyalty, laughter, and love. Among Wayne’s greatest joys was spending time traveling and being with Judi and lovingly “adopting” Patty Hanley as the daughter he never had and walking her down the aisle at her wedding to Luke Hanley.

Wayne was one of four children: sister Jane Church, and Brothers Richard Hawes and Gerald Hawes.

Among those left to cherish his memory are his beloved wife of 48 years, Judi Hawes and son, Brian (Klara) Hawes and grandson George and granddaughter Karen;

His nephew David Hawes, son of his deceased brother Richard and late sister-in-law Velma;

Sister Jane Church and her three children: Niece Lynn (Chris) Bennett, great nephew John and great niece Jaimie of Ohio; Niece Robin (“Butch”) Fish and her children great nephew Ben and great niece Laney of Indiana;  and Niece Sally (Doug) Dunham and her child, great niece Elizabeth.

Wayne also leaves behind his cherished godson, William “Will” Miller of Tampa, Florida and his “adopted” daughter Patty (Luke) Hanley of the Tampa area. In addition to his brother, Richard and sister in law Velma, preceding him in death were his parents, Isaac and Edith Hawes and other brother Gerald Hawes.

But we cannot forget his special cat, Shadow, who sat on his arm when he was on his computer and never left his side and two other cats he graciously tolerated.

The Life Celebration for Wayne Douglas Hawes will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 11:00am at  Keystone Community Church ( 21010 FL-54, Lutz, FL 33558 )