Wayne Tanner Obituary

Wayne Langley Tanner was born April 22, 1939 in Gainesville, Georgia to Mose and Ruth Tanner. He passed away peacefully March 22, 2022 at home in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He was named for two of his great grandmothers, Rosanna Josephine Wayne Smith and Alsey Langley Tanner.
Wayne attended City of Atlanta schools and graduated from Murphy High School in 1957. At Murphy, he obtained the nick name "Rabbit". After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard with his buddy, Tom Osborne. They trained at Key West, Florida and Cape May, New Jersey and then, they were stationed at Boston, Massachusetts. Wayne served as a Sonar Operator/Radioman. He spent days sitting at a signal station for aircraft and ships in the north Atlantic. He also served on an Icebreaker.
After his service in the Coast Guard, Wayne returned to Atlanta, got married and worked for a few companies, including office machine servicing and drafting. He finally settled into working with a manufacturing firm in Tucker, Georgia. He started there as a draftsman and retired as President of the company.
Beside his kids and grandkids, Wayne's greatest joy was traveling. After retiring from Bruce Wall Systems, he succeeded in checking off more bucket list destinations with his children, grandchildren and family members. For his 75 birthday, he scaled the summits of Machu Picchu, Peru and went zip-lining in Skagway, Alaska. The next year, he traveled to Europe with his niece and they joined in the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, France. And for his 80 birthday, he revisited Havana, Cuba for the first time since his Coast Guard days.
Those who had the privilege of knowing and loving Wayne know that he was quite the renaissance man. He so loved life and his vast friendships. He loved his "grape escape" at Lake Hartwell and he excelled at "Tannerizing". Wayne was a salt of the earth guy, he liked to kid around and have a good time. And he was always ready with a helping hand and a smile.
Wayne was preceded in death by his parents, Mose and Ruth, his brother, Jimmy and his beloved wife of 34 years, Sandra. He is survived by his brother, Joe Tanner (Paula), his daughters Cheryl Tanner (Dino), Michelle Mackie (Scott), Tracy Eason and Shannon Eason-Renn (Steve), his grandchildren Ian Mackie (Gabby), Stella Mackie (Alberto) and Chad Eason, and many nieces and nephews.
On Saturday, April 23, 2022, Wayne's family will honor him with a Celebration Of Life Open House from 1:00-5:00pm at their home in Stone Mountain, Georgia and they look forward to all of you who knew Wayne joining them.
And in lieu of flowers - the family ask that you please consider donating to TakeFlyte.Org (The Foundation For Learning & Youth Travel Education - ) - as a dedication in Wayne's name.
To send flowers to the family of Wayne, please visit our floral store.