Wayne passed away on March 16, 2025 in San Diego, California at the age of 77.
Link to Obituary and Tribute Page
Tribute from San Diego Jewish World
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Remembrance from Joel Rubenstein
My earliest recollection of Wayne in high school was his deep involvement in the Jewish group USY (United Synagogue Youth). I was only involved there a short time, moving more toward the local AZA group. He was always positive and very confident in assuming organizational positions. Wayne would speak about role modeling after his mom’s presidency of the PTA at Bowen High School; the family seemed to thrive on being in leadership roles. We kept our friendship alive past high school by the coincidence of my attending college with Wayne’s girlfriend who became his wife. Wayne stayed with me at U. Michigan during sophomore year and it was obvious he was smitten. He was never a halfway kind of guy and wore his emotions on his sleeve.
The coincidences kept on coming as I chose a radiology residency at U. Cal. Sand Diego in 1975, the same year Wayne moved to that area and became rabbi of congregation Beth El in La Jolla. My wife (from South Shore High) knew Wayne from USY and Congregation Rodfei Zedek, and we quickly became temple members. His services were joyous events and his sermons were also instructive and inspirational. Kids adored him. My toddler (now 50) learned to love services there. Wayne was so enthusiastic that I dubbed him “the Hubert Humphrey of religion” which he enjoyed hearing. By another coincidence, his best friend from Chicago was Alan Rubin—my brother-in-law. Small world.
Wayne continued to play a large part in my life: in 1977 performing the conversion of my daughter Amanda in our swimming pool (and later the conversion of my sister-in-law, Marcia); presiding in 1980 at my son’s b’ris (performed by an OB who grew up on the South Side!); and conducting the funeral services for my beloved parents in 2011 and 2017. We wouldn’t have thought of anyone else for these memorable events. My sister and brother got to know and love him.
He approached every service and ritual with loving humor. He had an exquisite sense of humor but on one occasion my family chose not to let him in on a funny slip-up. When my widowed mother died after 67 years of marriage, we engaged Wayne for the funeral. Unintentionally we neglected to inform him of any details of my parents’ relationship; he assumed they adored each other. My siblings and I privately referred to their marriage as “wedded Blitz” instead of bliss. So as Wayne finished the service, he commented that “Yetta has now rejoined the love of her life and they will be together as soulmates as before”. No one laughed out loud but my sister turned to me and whispered, “Are you sure we’re at the right funeral?” As far as Wayne knew, his perception was accurate. We all left the service on a high note that day. I hugged Wayne for the last time, 7 years ago.
Fifty years after ending up in San Diego together, I can admire his many accomplishments: raising 2 stepsons, authoring multiple books, being politically active, keeping great friendships. He was a pioneer in not just leading multiple congregations but creating a Video synagogue and later starting a congregation out of his own home that lasted the past 30 years. That experiment was only temporarily derailed when his home burned down in a wildfire. By coincidence, that weekend he was in Chicago for the Bar Mitzvah of the son of my brother-in-law.
Our 2 lives were bound by many coincidences, but Wayne would have called them moments of “destiny” or bashert, in Yiddish. The footprint he left in the lives of countless people will be hard to replicate.