Wayne Skidmore Condie, 69, of El Paso, Texas, passed away on December 8, 2022, due to complications from his cancer treatment.
Wayne, the sixth of nine children, was born on June 3, 1953 to Lyman Wilson Condie and Mary Louise Skidmore in Salt Lake City. He liked sports and played high school basketball and tennis, earning a state championship in the latter. Wayne graduated from Highland High School in 1971, served as a missionary in Japan from 1972-74, and graduated from the University of Utah in 1978 with an MBA.
Wayne, who was 6’ 5”, went on a blind date with Denise Ford on October 31, 1974, dressed as Abraham Lincoln by wearing a black tophat. (Little did they know they would be sharing forty-eight future Halloweens.) Wayne and Denise were married in the Salt Lake City Temple on September 18, 1975, and had four children. As a growing family they lived in Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Houston and El Paso.
Wayne worked in banking and finance, and had a special talent with numbers. Often, as he would shop for groceries, Wayne would keep a running tally of the cost in his head, and be able to predict the final total before the cashier rang it up, down to the penny, much to the amazement of his children. Wayne absolutely prioritized time with his family, and they remember him assembling jigsaw puzzles, watching college football, reading about history, cooking with stewed tomatoes, going on unique road-trips, and blasting Tabernacle Choir CDs on Sunday mornings. A fan of family games, Wayne was most fond of playing Scrabble, Boggle, Qwirkle, and Quiddler.
After retiring at the age of 56, Wayne and Denise traveled the world, visiting 55 countries spanning six continents. Wayne visited all eight provinces in Canada, and 49 of the 50 states in the US – he never made it to North Dakota, but also, admittedly, made no special effort to visit North Dakota.
Wayne had a strong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ and loved teaching others about the Gospel. He was very passionate about volunteering his time to teach in the local prison. He was an instructor for the Pathway Program, a temple worker in Ciudad Juarez, and a volunteer with the Church’s employment resource services. He often ministered to people who were seemingly forgotten or in the background.
In the words of his children, Wayne was chill, strong, supportive, calm, dependable, and helpful. His wife remembers him foremost as being pleasant, and appreciates how he made her laugh every day. He was a good husband, dad, and grandpa.
Wayne Skidmore Condie is survived by his wife: Lanea Denise Ford; his four children and their spouses: Heather and Clayton Allen, Jacob and Ali Condie, Rachel and David Thoerig, Melissa and Jason Dayley; and, his seven grandchildren: Alexander, Kate, Joseph, Benjamin, Annabel, Kit and Ian.
Denise, it has been a number of years since you all left Houston.!! I am saddened to hear that Wayne passed. I will pray for you and your family that you will find peace and comfort. May the Lord hold you and bless you with all that you need.
Dear Denise & family,
I was very saddened to hear about the passing of Wayne. We were very fortunate to have your family as neighbors in Houston. I remember Wayne as a good and honorable man who loved his family! May your faith and loving memories get you through this difficult time. I send my deepest condolences and sympathies to you and your family!
Oh my heart goes out to each of you with this tremendous unexpected loss! I remember your dad the way you speak of him…He was a man of integrity, and I remember his friendliness when he talked with me and others. I love that I can see little bits of him in each of his children. I’m so sorry that you will be without him for a time, and how early it seems to have come. We love you all and will be praying for each of you, especially sweet Denise. May God give you safe spaces in which to grieve, and help comfort you when you need it most. I pray you will have opportunities to connect with one another, and feel his spirit too, along with the Savior’s healing presence. We love you all!!
Denise and family. I'm so sorry to hear of Wayne's passing. I had the opportunity to spend many days with him in Tucson with his physical therapy treatments. He is probably one of the hardest workers I've ever come across in 38 years of being a therapist. He had an amazing spirit and was he very good person. You are all in my prayers. Melody Browne.
Denise and Family... Our heart and deepest sympathies are extended in the passing of Wayne. We were shocked as we Learned of the passing. We did not find out until today. 28th. Though distance divided us over the years, we know something about the line up in Oct of 1974. You are great friends. Wayne was my friend in the High School days and we love the Condie family and all of its branches. Denise.... our thoughts and prayers are with you. Rob and Colleen Bauman
Wayne and I hung out a lot during our days at Highland High. We prepared for our lds missions together ad challenged each other to read church books. We finished reading Jesus the Christ on the same day. We attended two or three sacrament meetings on the same day. We attended the Provo Temple and afterwards rocked out in the car to the first playing of the Doobie Brothers Oh Black Water. Wayne was the anchor of our intramural basketball team named Lewi's Marauders. We had Wayne, Duane Tippets, hall of famer Hutch Hunter, future appellate court Justice Russell Bench a larger center from Murray high school and I believe his brother Paul Condie may have played n some of the games as well. We were undefeated as we had a bigger and stronger intramural lineup than many varsity basketball teams did. We sat next to each other in Dr. Scanland's English class. Dr. Scanland threw me out of the class for just yawning during her speech. I was devastated but Wayne explained to me that she was strict and I would no doubt meet many strict people in my life. Wayne had a great sense of humor and always quick to find the humor in alot of situations. I was so fortunate to have Wayne as my high school friend.
