Wayne Roy Ziegler, 69, of Bloomington, Indiana, passed away suddenly from a suspected heart attack on his way home from visiting family in Saint Louis, Missouri on September 8, 2026. He was a beloved father, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, neighbor, and friend to many. He will be dearly missed. Wayne was born on August, 24th 1957 and raised in Arnold, Missouri. Wayne was the son of George Ziegler and Doris Ziegler nee Riggins and grew up with two brothers Glen and Wade, and three sisters, Gail, Gwen, and Cindy. They grew up in a wonderful home that his father George built himself from mostly reclaimed, recycled, and repurposed materials on Sonny Drive in Arnold, Missouri. Wayne was raised Catholic attending Immaculate Conception Church in Arnold, Missouri. Upon confirmation he chose Archangel Michael to be his confirmation name, which we later bestowed upon his son as his middle name. Wayne remained a man of faith and belief through his life. He believed in and saw the connectedness in all things and all of us through faith, hope, and love. He hung a cross and a crystal prism from the rear view mirrors of his vehicles in symbolism of love, faith, life, the light and the rainbows contained within. Wayne was a graduate of Fox High School in Arnold where he was a proud member of the gymnastics team and known to demonstrate a remarkable iron cross on the rings. Wayne was a jack of all trades in the truest sense of the phase and worked across many vocations throughout his life. From landscaping and lawn care, restaurants, wait staff and hosting, to construction and concrete work, audio visual production and event management, automotive repair, delivery driving, heavy equipment hauling and operation, over the road trucking, and many more. In all of these jobs and sectors Wayne was always known to pitch in and help with any task or thing that needed done as a great member of the team. For the past 15 years Wayne worked part time for Quality Surfaces Inc., a custom countertop and surface company in Spencer, Indiana which he came
to work at after meeting the owner through volunteer work. There he worked at hauling slabs and
finished surfaces while also helping out in numerous ways throughout the shop, fabrication, installs,
deliveries, cleanup, the grounds, and for the customers and contractors. He was highly regarded as a
friend, a perpetually helpful presence, and an integral part of the work family and business there.
Wayne was an incredibly resourceful and generous person, always making the very best of what he
had and what he could find or salvage, repurpose, repair, bring back to life and to function both for
himself but also for his family, his friends, and even strangers and passers by to help them along their
path as well. Wayne was tenacious and not one to give up on a task or a person and dedicated
himself to helping others and never asking for or expecting anything in return. Wayne always did his
absolute best at everything he did, never one to take shortcuts or cut corners and consistently put in
the time it took to do a job well. He took pride in everything he worked on and worked toward and was
meticulous in trying to achieve the absolute best he could always in everything.
Wayne loved talking on the phone and checking on his friends and family. He made consistent efforts
through life to keep in touch with people and check on them and visit and call. He was a great
conversationalist and would find ways to have meaningful conversations go on for hours as time
seemingly flew by to really get deep into the substance of life, the day to day, and demonstrating his
interest in how people were really doing and feeling, never superficial.
Wayne was also a car guy and a particular fan of El Caminos and had several across his life. Wayne
also liked Harley Davidson motorcycles, enjoyed riding in general, and his bike was one of his
happiest possessions that he took impeccable care of. Wayne enjoyed visiting car lots in his home
town and those he passed by just to look at cars and talk about cars and kick tires and share picture
of his finds with family and friends. He worked on and fixed and repaired and maintained cars all his
life and loved working on them, keeping them going, figuring out what was wrong with them, and
reaching out to talk cars and share puzzles and ideas with friends.
Wayne also enjoyed giving back in other ways in his life as well. He would consistently grow his hair
to pony tail length in order to be able to have a suitable length for donation to locks of love every time
he would get a haircut. Wayne was also instrumental in the formation and the initial foundational work
to construct and build the Bloomington Community Orchard in Bloomington, Indiana, a community
organized and maintained communal fruit producing orchard. Beyond that, Wayne was the man that
would be there for others regardless of the circumstances, he would be the friendly guy who would
help you if you ran out of gas on the side of the road and give you a ride or bring you back a full gas
can or help figure out car trouble, the guy who would help you pick up the groceries that burst out of
your bag at the grocery store, the guy who would drag a hazard off the road before you got there so
you wouldn’t hit it, the guy who would see you sitting there and just ask to make sure you were ok. He
would show up when you needed help and he would stay as long as it took. He never expected or
wanted anything in return for help or kind actions, he wished people would just pay that help and
kindness forward to others and through that the world could be a better place and we could all take
care of each other a little better. He was the best of us in so many ways and was just such a positive
contribution to this world.
Wayne also had a great sense of humor and could find those silver linings in all things. He was good
at picking up the spirits of others through offering a positive perspective and a good joke. He enjoyed
trying to find the lighthearted laughter in things with others and to help us all keep an eye on the big
picture and have fun. Still he held everyone to the highest of standards and wasn’t shy in letting you
know the ways in which he thought you had room for improvement or could be doing better from a
place of care.
Wayne was also an animal lover and had an uncanny knack for instantly befriending anyone’s dog, or
cat, or animal friend of any kind for that matter. He had a deep respect and connection to people, but
also to animals and nature. He often and fondly remembered and shared stories of his last dog
Lugnut, who he adopted as a stray on the side of the road in Mississippi while working as an over the
road truck driver who turned out to be quite a companion to him.
Wayne married Kimberly Ann Ragan and they had a son together, Shaun Ziegler. While the marriage
didn’t last, they did share love together and they stayed in touch throughout his life as respectful and
amicable co-parents. Shaun was one of the most special people to Wayne in his life who he was so
proud of and loved being with and talking to. Wayne loved being a father and being there for his son.
Wayne inspired a deep love for the outdoors and conservation in his son and was the inspiration for
Shaun to pursue a career in conservation and to serve and give back to the world in that way. Across
countless camping, hiking, backpacking, and canoeing trips in Missouri, to places like Mark Twain
National Forest, the Current River, Johnson’s shut-ins, Elephant Rocks and many others, Wayne
introduced and cultivated an interest in, and a respect and appreciation for the land, the forest, the
rivers, the wildlife, our shared natural resources and a strong conservation ethic in his son.
Wayne always showed up for his son, always answered the call, always lent a helping hand and a
supportive word. He traveled with him to his big job interviews, helped him move across the country
several times, and always encouraged and supported him in his life, career, and educational goals.
Shaun deeply appreciated his involvement, his influence, his help, his support, and his inspiration in
his life in so many ways beyond what words can describe. Shaun loved him so dearly and deeply as
an incredible father who taught him so much from skills, to values, to ethics, to resourcefulness, to
helping others, to appreciating the world and those in it, to being a good person. Shaun loved him so
dearly as a father, a best friend, and a constant companion, supporter and partner in life. In 2009
Wayne moved to Bloomington Indiana to be closer to Shaun and they started working on house
remodeling projects together. These projects expanded to be located across the country as career
opportunities dictated for Shaun. They both made travels to get together to work on projects several
times a year, for weeks at a time, to spend consistent time together that the they enjoyed. They loved
accomplishing and working on things together as a great team, and always had the next trip roughly
planned to look forward to. They kept in touch over the phone multiple times every week. They still
got out to the woods together often and enjoyed nature together and Wayne even helped Shaun with
his doctorate field research every year in the old growth woods of Southern Indiana. They really were
each other’s important people and did their best to help each other always. His son will dearly miss
him, be forever grateful for having him as a father and all he has done for and taught him, and will
carry him with him and love him always.
The world lost a little bit of light with the passing of Wayne Ziegler, but the world was made such a
better and brighter place and for all those in it for the time we are lucky and grateful that he was able
to share with us and the legacies and memories he created in love and service and friendship to us
all. Forever in our hearts, may he rest in peace.
In lieu of flowers, and no expectations, but his son Shaun asks, and it would be Wayne’s wishes, that
in his honor and in respect of his memory, that you would lend a hand to your fellow man and the
world we live in in whatever way you can whenever you can. A simple act of kindness or compassion
or service to help a friend or a stranger, donate some of your time or resources to a cause you feel
helps the world, the environment, and the people and wildlife in it, and encourage others to do the
same. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the earth and all the creatures in
it, and help make the world a little brighter and better everyday in the countless small ways it takes to do so. In
that way, we can all honor Wayne’s memory and build on the many great contributions he made.
Services; Visitation will take place from 4-7pm on Wednesday, September 16th, and Service will be held at 11 am on
Thursday September 17th at Kutis Funeral Home – 5255 Lemay Ferry
Rd, St. Louis, MO 63129
