[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21716-21717]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING THE LIFE OF LLOYD WAYNE WAGGONER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 28, 2006

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I come to the House floor today to 
express my profound sadness for the loss of a constituent and a friend, 
Lloyd Wayne Waggoner. He was a husband, father, father-in-law, 
grandfather, brother, and a friend. Known by most people as ``Wayne'' 
or ``Gotebo,'' the little town in Oklahoma in which he grew up, Wayne 
was an Alaskan for more than 40 years. He arrived shortly after the 
1964 earthquake with a friend who asked him to ride along on his trip 
to the last frontier. And like many people in Alaska, Wayne fell in 
love with the beauty, independence and kind people that Alaska had to 
offer, and he never left.
  When he first came to Alaska, he worked on an oil rig on the North 
Slope. During his years in the Last Frontier, he pursued such varied 
career interests as holding the first Seiko watch distributorship in 
the State, running for state office, operating a wholesale jewelry 
business, serving on the Anchorage Zoning Commission and opening 
Wayne's Diamond Center stores in Anchorage, Wasilla, and Fairbanks. He 
also gave his time generously to the Anchorage Lions Club, the 
Shriners, and the Freedom Frog program, which promotes recovery from 
substance abuse and addiction.

[[Page 21717]]

  Wayne had experiences, met people, and lived a life that most people 
only dream about. He regaled his family and friends with stories he 
told about the little bar in Laguna Beach that he gave to a friend when 
he decided not to return from Alaska; his dislike for salmon because 
that was all he ate for 3 weeks on a cargo ship he boarded as a 
stowaway in the Mediterranean; his one and only hole-in-one that he 
shot in 2001 at Fort Richardson Golf Course; the night he met the 
beautiful pianist--the love of his life, Karen--at the bar up at 
Stuckagain Heights; and the time he and his daughter saw a moose calf 
taken down by a sow bear right in front of them while fly-fishing in 
Naknek River.
  Wayne was a patriot, a great American who served his country 
honorably and a true sourdough Alaskan. With a story and a smile for 
everyone, he was a person that made people think, ``boy, am I glad I 
met him.'' We are all better for having known him, for having loved 
him, and for having been loved by him. For the person he was, for the 
lessons he taught us, for the love he shared with us, he will always be 
in our hearts. We celebrate his life and cherish our memories. Mr. 
Speaker, in Wayne's words I leave you with his favorite toast ``may you 
work like you don't need the money, may you dance like no one is 
watching, and may you love like you've never been hurt.''

                          ____________________