Wayne William Carlson's Obituary
Obituary
Wayne William Carlson, 92, of Rogers, Arkansas passed away peacefully on Monday, March 23, 2020. Born on March 21, 1928 in Rockford, Illinois to Swedish-American parents, Frank W. Carlson and Ruth Peterson Carlson, Wayne grew up during the Great Depression.
He worked as a paperboy to earn money, played the saxophone on the radio, sledded down city streets in the wintertime, and played baseball with his friends. Wayne, a talented shortstop, signed with the Chicago Cubs’ minor league baseball team at age 16 and later with the Cincinnati Reds minor league team. With a love of saxophone and singing, Wayne established “Billy Wayne’s Big Band Orchestra” while in high school, playing in the Rockford, Illinois area. After completing high school, Wayne served a tour of duty with the U.S. Army as part of the Signal Corp in occupied Japan following WWII.
Wayne’s life-long love for his wife, Margy Hendricks Carlson, began in childhood when Wayne, a bold 13 year old, asked Margy, eleven, to go to the movies with him. What started as a friendship, grew into 70 years of happy marriage filled with travel, operating successful businesses, dancing, fine-dining, baseball, bowling, golf, and the births of two sons, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Married on September 9, 1949, Wayne and Margy were the first married couple to graduate from Pittsburg State University in Kansas (1951).
After Graduation, Wayne and Margy lived in Amarillo, Texas and Memphis, Tennessee before finally settling in Bentonville, Arkansas. In partnership with his wife and in-laws, Harley and Minnie Hendricks, Wayne founded Bentonville Casting Company on the corner of Eighth and J Street in Bentonville in 1954. Bentonville Casting Company designed and produced cast-iron machinery parts for industries across the nation, growing from ten employees to 150 at its peak. Wayne and Margy sold Bentonville Casting Company and retired in 1998. In addition to the Casting Company, The Carlsons also owned the American Wheel Engineering Company in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, which produced finished brake drums and wheels for the national bus and trucking industry, and Cook-n-Tools, which designed and produced cast-iron barbeque grills in Bentonville, AR.
Wayne lived a very active and outgoing lifestyle, participating in many different hobbies over the years. During the 1950s, Wayne played shortstop for the semi-pro baseball team in northwest Arkansas, the Bentonville Merchants. He can be seen in the team photo at Merchants Baseball Park in Bentonville. In the 1960s and 1970s, Wayne coached Little League and Babe Ruth in Bentonville. He was an avid bowler, traveling to participate in bowling tournaments across the four-state area and holding the high-series average for a number of years in Rogers. Wayne was also part of a singing quartet called the “Heartburns” that performed around the Northwest Arkansas region. Wayne and Margy were excellent dancers, enjoying many Saturday nights dancing and dining with friends. Wayne treasured vacationing with his family and friends, taking many exciting trips together to Europe, the Caribbean, and across the United States. Of all his hobbies, Wayne loved golf the most, spending many summer days on the course at Pinnacle Golf Club in Rogers, Arkansas and each winter in Palm Desert, California at the Palm Valley Country Club. Wayne won numerous senior and super-senior championships, golfing well into his late eighties.
In his later years, Wayne (PaPa) loved visits from his great-grandchildren, eating many meals “cooked” for him in the play kitchen and cherishing each small high-five and kiss on the cheek. At the conclusion of each visit, as the goodbyes and “I love yous” were said, Wayne, with a twinkle in his eye, always responded with “Love you more!”
From all of us, we love you more.
Wayne was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Phyllis Carlson (Bernie) Lundberg.
He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Margy Hendricks Carlson; his brother, Alvin F. “Bud” (Wanda) Carlson of Rogers; his sons, Rick (Fredra) Carlson of Lawrence, Kansas and David (Viah) Carlson of Bentonville; his grandchildren, Eric (Kelly) Carlson of Leavenworth, Kansas, Kimberly (Kelly) Sullivan of Bentonville, and Michael Carlson of Bentonville; and his great-grandchildren, Derek and Dylan Carlson and Amelia and Avery Sullivan.
Services will be announced at a later date.
Wayne will be laid to rest in the columbarium at Pinnacle Memorial Gardens in Rogers.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Stockdale-Moody Funeral Services of Rogers. To share memories, pictures, or words of comfort with the family, or to request notification of services or information on donating to the Bentonville Parks and Recreation department in Wayne’s memory, email [email protected].
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Wayne William Carlson, please visit our floral store.
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