Wayne Mareska, 87, of Wagner

Funeral Mass will be 10:30 AM, Saturday, December 20, 2014 at St. John Catholic Church in Wagner. Burial is in St. John Catholic Cemetery, rural Wagner. Visitation is Friday from 3 to 5 PM at the Crosby-Jaeger Funeral Home in Wagner, followed by a 7 PM Rosary/Wake Service at the church.

Wayne James Mareska was born July 23, 1927 in Utica, SD, the son of James and Anna (Krsnak) Mareska. He later married Jo Ann McEntaffer on December 26, 1955 in Wagner, SD at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. He died Saturday, December 13, 2014 at the Good Samaritan Society in Wagner.

After graduating from high school in Martin, SD, Wayne attended Southern State College in Springfield, graduating with a BS degree in Education in 1957. He would later attend graduate school at SDSU earning a MA degree in Education and Administration. Wayne also attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln taking supplemental courses in Social Services Administration while working in Lincoln.

Wayne's first professional position was in Ravinia, SD where he taught high school English for a number of years. He then worked for a few years as an insurance adjuster before accepting a position as Superintendent of School in Carthage, SD after graduating from SDSU. He and wife Jo Ann then moved to Lincoln, NE where Wayne worked for Catholic Family Social Services while attending the University of Nebraska. They moved back to Wagner where he accepted a position as City Finance Manager from which her retired after a number of years.

Despite the use of only one arm which resulted from an earlier illness, Wayne became skillful in doing mechanical projects. He enjoyed "tinkering" on cars, often servicing his own vehicles. He also enjoyed home improvement projects, once even plumbing and installing a new bathroom.

Wayne was a voracious reader. Someone once commented, "he absorbed knowledge like a sponge". He became an ardent football fan and like everything else he knew everything about every team-positions, players, coaches, schedules, trades, etc.

Wayne was an active parishioner of St John the Baptist Catholic Church in Wagner and when physical impediments prohibited him from attending Mass, he would tape the masses on television and keep up on church activities through weekly bulletins and The Bishop Bulletin.

Wayne was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Mildred Abdouch.

Thankful for having shared his life are his wife Jo Ann of Wagner; sister Lottie Kelly of CA; nephews: Lambert, Taylor and Curtis Kelly of CA; Dean Abdouch of Wagner; and brothers-in-law Jerry McEntaffer of Ravinia and Richard McEntaffer of Pierre.