Wayne E. Kurle

Wayne E. Kurle

September 1, 1945 – April 8, 2021

 Survived by wife, Cindy Kurle; daughters, Camille Schindler (Keith) and Courtney Nichols (Steve); stepdaughter, Jolynn Keplinger (Shane); eight grandchildren: Cole Barbee, Madysen Barbee, William Schindler, Zoe Nichols, Eli Nichols, Presleigh Keplinger, Kaden Keplinger, and Sophie Keplinger; brother, Lee Kurle.

FUNERAL SERVICE: Friday, April 16^th at 10am at Love Church, 20120 Blue Sage Parkway, Omaha.  GRAVESIDE SERVICE: Monday, April 19^th at 1pm, Omaha National Cemetery with Military Honors by the US Army and Millard American Legion Post 374 & VFW Post 8334.

To view a live view of the Funeral Service, go to the Love Church website.

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Wayne Erwin Kurle was born September 1, 1945 in Eureka, SD. He entered heaven on April 8, 2021,
surrounded by his wife and 3 (three) daughters, after suffering a heart attack at home.
His life was full of love and laughter and friendship and it is impossible to summarize his well-lived 75 years in
a short obituary, but we will do what we can.

Childhood: Wayne grew up on his family farm in Eureka, SD with his parents and his brother, Lee. Here he
learned to appreciate hard work, honesty, and integrity and was given the foundation of his faith by his
parents. He graduated from Eureka High School in 1963 where he excelled at sports, academics, and
socializing.

Education: He prided himself in being a lifelong learner and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree (Cum Laude) in
1967 from Westmar College. He continued his education at Morningside College and earned his Master of Arts
in Teaching degree in 1974. He eventually earned enough credits to have his Masters plus 30 which he was
very proud of attaining.

Career: Wayne taught in the Sioux City School district for 34 years until he retired in 2005. He primarily taught
Spanish to middle school students but also taught government and American History when needed. The vast
majority of his former students will tell you he was their favorite teacher, and most will be able to recall a
corny joke or two that he told. Wayne enjoyed using his Spanish language skills throughout his life to
“impress” Hispanic people he would meet and would, in true Wayne fashion, end up leaving with a new
friend. While he was a teacher, he also shared his love of sports and would coach boys church basketball
teams.

Family: Wayne met Cindy Roy Hendrickson when they lived in the same apartment complex. She asked him
for help fixing her door and, well, she fell in love with him anyway (if you knew Wayne, you knew that despite
his amazing intelligence and abundance of gifts he was not the one to go to for mechanical or technical
assistance). They married on Valentine’s Day 1981 and had just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.
During those 40 (forty) years, Wayne and Cindy moved several times. Sometimes because they had to,
sometimes because they just felt like it. They especially enjoyed the years they had a home at Lake Okoboji.
Even though Wayne wasn’t a swimmer, he was an accomplished “floater” and loved to take walks with his
bride, bird watch, boat watch, deer watch, and of course, enjoy the occasional Nutty Bar.

Hobbies: Wayne could literally find joy in anything. When he was younger, he played softball, tennis,
basketball, and was always ready to do some long toss with his kids and grandkids. In his retirement years he
was an avid bike rider and enjoyed long walks with Cindy. When he wasn’t playing sports, he was watching
them (live or on TV), especially his beloved Oakland As. He also was a voracious reader. He read newspapers
cover to cover, books, magazines, cereal boxes, etc. And if he wasn’t reading, he was journaling. He journaled
EVERYTHING! Absolutely everything! And now we have those journals to treasure forever! Wayne and Cindy
also became quite the travelers! They were blessed to be able to travel extensively with family and friends and
got to see and experience many wonderful places and things! Above all though, he loved spending time with
his family and friends. Playing Left-Right-Center, playing word games, watching the grandkids in their
activities, and just hanging out together having a Blizzard from Dairy Queen.

Wayne is survived by his wife, one brother, Lee Kurle, 3 (three) daughters/sons-in-law, Camille and Keith Schindler,
Courtney and Steve Nichols, JoLynn and Shane Keplinger. He has 8 (eight) grandchildren, Cole Barbee,
Madysen Barbee, Will Schindler, Zoe Nichols, Eli Nichols, Presleigh Keplinger, Kaden Keplinger, and Sophie
Keplinger. He was preceded in death by his mom and dad, Viola and Erwin Kurle

Wayne was one of a kind. He was smart, kind, faithful, loving and above all, he had a deep faith in God and
knew that he would be spending eternity with Jesus!