Wayne Oliver Lunsford, 76, a loving husband, father, grandfather, and uncle, passed away peacefully on November 15, 2023, surrounded by his family, from a long battle with dementia.
Wayne was born on June 21, 1947, in Santa Ana, CA to parents Jesse Lunsford and Winifred (Jones) as the second child of six. Mealtimes were a one-and-done deal, if you didn’t grab what you wanted the first time around, you were guaranteed it wouldn’t come back around a second time. While growing up, Wayne’s family moved around several times while his father pursued his Master’s and Ph.D. in Engineering, including California, Washington State, New York, and Oklahoma. The family eventually settled in Las Cruces, NM where his father accepted a position as a Civil Engineering Professor at New Mexico State University and his Mother settled in as a Homemaker. Wayne attended Las Cruces High School as a Senior, where he joined the Football and Gymnastics teams. Halfway through the year, he met the love of his life Linda, who just happened to be a cheerleader for his football team. Their first encounter was anything but a typical love story as it was a forced double date. While driving home Wayne took a sharp left turn, the passenger door flew open and Linda fell into Wayne to avoid falling out of the car. They were inseparable after that. They got engaged in December of 1967 and were married in August of 1968 at the Presbyterian Church in Las Cruces.
After graduating High School he attended New Mexico State University (NMSU) and received a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering in 1970. He subsequently decided he wanted to continue his education, enrolling in a MasIn 1981 a new opportunity arose at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Wayne was excited for a chance to advance his career. He accepted a position at GMX-1 as a project liaison. For the first 8 months he continued to travel back and forth to Amarillo. He used to joke that his family asked him why they ever left. Looking to travel less to be able to spend more time with his family he accepted a new job with WX-1 as a Design Engineer providing interface design information to other design agencies and served on the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defence (DOD) subcommittees. In 1994 he became a Project Leader for ESA-WSE and continued his supervisory duties for the Systems Section becoming a Team Leader in 1999. In 2003 he maintained his dual role as the Production/Military Liaison Team/Project Leader. He continued to contribute to multiple projects until his retirement in 2011. Over his 30 year career with LANL he made approximately 750 trips as a liaison.
In his free time, he had a passion for fixing clocks and restoring pocket watches, extending his love by making sure all his family had a watch to keep for themselves. He spent countless hours hunkered down in his watch shop tinkering away. He was a member of NAWCC (National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, Inc.) and would frequently travel to their conventions where he made countless friends in the watch and clock community. His wife and youngest daughter Kristina would often join him. They hold very dear memories of perusing all the booths and spending time with the dear friends made along the way. Wayne was also a huge gun enthusiast. He spent most of his Fridays off at the Los Alamos Sportsmen’s Club target shooting with friends. He even made his own ammunition out of his garage and was a member of the NRA. If there was a gun show anywhere in the vicinity you could always find him looking for a new toy. His other passions included hunting, working on cars and taking all of his kids and grandkids fishing. In the days when his kids were younger he would take them down into Water Canyon where he taught them how to target shoot and drive his old Datsun truck.
He is preceded in death by his father Jesse, his mother Winnie, older sister Faye and younger brother Richard “Dick.” He is survived by his wife: Linda “Lynch” Lunsford and 3 children: Sharee, Thomas, and Kristina Lunsford, 7 grandchildren: Ashana, Jerrel, Anna, Jordan, Kyreen, Alaina, Breana, and 1 great granddaughter: Oaklee. He is also survived by brothers: Doug and wife Wendy, Steven and wife Mary, sister Cindy and husband John along with several nieces and nephews. Wayne also leaves behind his cherished church family as an active member of the Pajarito Church of Christ. He was blessed to have met so many brothers and sisters along the way.
Services, supported by Rivera Funeral Home, will be on December 2, 2023, at The Christian Church in Los Alamos, 92 East Road, Los Alamos, NM 87544 starting with viewing at 10:30 AM, Services at 11:00 AM. Internment Services to follow at the Guaje Pines Cemetery, 901 Range Road.
We would like to extend our gratitude to the Los Alamos Senior Center Day Out Program and all the caregivers especially Bernadette, Laurie, Lily, Connie and Gabe where Wayne attended for many years. We are also very grateful for the staff at Montecito and Ambercare Hospice, who cared deeply for Wayne. Specifically we would like to extend our gratitude to Eufemia, Rhoda, Stacie, Jodeane, Rachel and Stephanie who provided such great care and love to Wayne in the final stages of his battle with dementia. We could not have made it through this journey without you.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to: Alzheimer’s Association at https://www.alz.org/ or The Jesse V. Lunsford Endowed Scholarship at NMSU