Rowan Wiltse

Willard Rowan Wiltse, 83, of Wayne, NE, passed away Sunday, January 22, 2017 at Brookdale Senior Living in Wayne. A memorial service will be Thursday, January 26, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Wayne; Pastor Jeanne Madsen will be officiating. A visitation will be Wednesday, January 25, 2017 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Our Savior Lutheran Church. A private family burial will be held at Greenwood Cemetery in Wayne. Memorials may be made to Our Savior Lutheran Church. Arrangements are under the direction of Bressler-Munderloh-Smith Funeral Home in Wakefield, NE. Willard Rowan Wiltse was born January 22, 1934 to Willard R. and Florence (Beckenhauer) Wiltse in Wayne, NE. He was a lifelong resident of Wayne, graduating from Wayne High School in 1951. Rowan married Twila M. Heier on April 17, 1953 at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Wayne. He was a graduate of Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Chicago in 1955, he was associated with his grandfather and father in funeral homes in Wayne, Laurel and Winside, NE. He graduated from Wayne State College in 1982 and received his Master’s Degree in 1986. Willard had been an adjunct instructor in Applied Science at Wayne State and became Director of Cooperative Education in the fall of 1988, a position he held until his retirement in 1997. Rowan was inducted in the Wayne State College Hall of Fame in 1980, received the Nebraska Funeral Director’s Hero’s Award for saving a life and in 2012 he was awarded the WSC Outstanding Alumni Award for Business and Technology. He is a past president of the Wayne Chamber of Commerce and Wayne Industries, Wayne Kiwanis Club and served as Lt. Governor of the NE/IA District, Kiwanis International. He was a past member of the Wayne Masonic Lodge and Sioux City Scottish Rite, Abu Bekr Shrine and Cornhusker Shrine Club. He is survived by his wife, Twila Wiltse of Wayne, NE; son, Mark Wiltse of Laurel, NE; daughter Carol (R. Joseph) Potts of Racine, WI; 4 grandchildren; four great grandchildren; sister, Renee (Don) Cunningham of Phoenix, AZ, as well as nieces and nephews. Rowan was preceded in death by his parents; and in-laws, Fred and Lena Heier.