June 22, 1944 – October 2, 2005
Rev. Wayne Alton Hawley, 81, who served five United Methodist Churches in Michigan, passed away on October 2, 2025, from pulmonary fibrosis and congestive heart failure at Ascension Seton Cedar Park Hospital in Cedar Park, Texas.
Wayne was born on June 22, 1944, in Dearborn, Michigan, to George Olney Hawley and Frances Hawley, née Peacock. He liked to joke that he rolled off Ford Motor Co.’s Dearborn assembly line.
At age 5, Wayne received two violins from an aunt. When an accordion salesman tried to sell his parents that instrument instead, Wayne insisted on mastering the violin. He began lessons at age 9 and played throughout his life. At age 12, he became a Christian and resolved to become a pastor.
Wayne graduated from Highland High School in Albuquerque, N.M., in 1962. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., in 1966, and a master’s degree in divinity from Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, Pa., where he graduated cum laude in 1976.
Wayne served in the U.S. Army as a medic from 1968 to 1970 at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, rising to the rank of E-5.
During his college and seminary years, Wayne served at a number of churches in Kirk and Idalia, CO; Blanchester, Ohio; and Cumbola and Cressona, PA. He also served as a lay pastor at the Window Rock United Methodist Church in Window Rock, AZ, from 1971 to 1972.
After his ordination as a United Methodist Church minister, Wayne served UMC churches in Nazareth and Glendon, PA, from 1977 to 1978; Gravel Hill United Methodist Church in Palmyra, PA, from 1978 to 1983; the Harbor Beach and Port Hope United Methodist Churches in Michigan from 1983 to 1991; and North Lake United Methodist Church in Chelsea, MI, from 1991 to 2001. From 2001 to 2007, he served at Grace United Methodist Church in Samaria, MI, and Ida United Methodist Church in MI. After retiring in 2007, Wayne moved to Burnet, Texas, where he was an active member of the First Methodist Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Wayne married his wife, Pamela, in 1969. He is survived by Pamela; his son Christopher Hawley of Chandler, Arizona, with wife Rebecca Holzer and grandchildren Gryffon and Tressa Hawley; his son Scott Hawley of Austin, Texas, with wife Tatem Oldham and grandchildren Eliza and Ezra; and his son Jason Hawley of Everett, Washington, with wife Clare Ouyang. He is also survived by his sister, Carolyn Dunn, and her husband John Dunn of Nottingham, Maryland.
Wayne was a loving, spiritual, humorous, curious, and creative person who loved meeting people from all walks of life. He loved puns and was an avid writer of fiction, a knitter, a photographer, a puppeteer, and a performer in musical groups. He performed in plays at the Hill Country Community Theater in Texas and the Port Austin Community Playhouse in Michigan. He was a natural emcee, organizing and leading events for his church and community. Wayne saw his life a series of miracles: in his words, they were “more than coincidences, they are blessings – gifts of grace from God.”
Wayne donated his body to the McGovern School of Medicine in Houston. A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025 at First Methodist Church of Burnet, 301 E. Graves Street in Burnet, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to KLRU public television at donate.austinpbs.org or to the LACare Food Bank at lacareburnet.org.
*Hawley, Wayne A. (Pamela) – [(RE) P 1977; F 1979 (E PA Conf); RE 2007] Transfer to Detroit Conf from E PA, Harbor Beach, Port Hope 1983; North Lake 1991; Ida, Samaria: Grace 2001; Retired 2007.
Last Updated on October 30, 2025