Person:Wayne McMullin (1)

Biography by Jolayne, 2006

“Born of goodly parents, Alphonzo and Mary Elizabeth Munns McMullin, I came into the world at Burley, Idaho. My father was then engaged in the construction of a sugar factory and I got my start in the sugar industry at an early age.

“After completion of the factory, we moved back to our home in the southern part of Alberta, Canada, and my grade and high school days were spent at Raymond, about 45 miles from Cardston. As I look back now, it was during these childhood years that I received a foundation in the gospel and the beginning of my testimony. Many incidents in my life at this time made a profound influence on me.”

Wayne was the sixth child and third son born into the family. Four girls were born later, only two of whom lived past babyhood. His mother once wrote, “Wayne was inclined to be religious and was always at his church classes. He always liked school and made the grade. He really enjoyed athletics. At one time in the pole vaulting he broke the school record and it stood for a long time. . . Every show the Mutual put on he was the star.”

His sister, Edythe, two years older, recorded, “Wayne and I went to dances, danced every dance together, and had a wonderful time. I thought Wayne could dance better than anyone I had ever danced with. "Tiger Rag” was our favorite. Then later he and I were the Dance Instructors and won from Raymond 2nd Ward then danced in Lethbridge. We didn't win but were asked to go to Salt Lake but ‘no mon, no fun,’ so then Wayne went to Picture Butte to work in factory and I never did have a partner like him.

“Wayne was always a pet.  Everyone liked him, he was especially good to old folks and they loved him too. Mama was always crazy about him, thought he was real wonderful. She used to skim all the cream  off the milk to give Wayne because he was so thin. . . 

“He was always a peace maker, and stood up for the under dog. If any kid was having a hard time, Wayne would to right up to him and defend him. It killed him to see any one suffer or get a bad deal, or be called a bad name.

When Wayne was a young man, he and a friend left home without telling their families. They “got very hungry at times. One a.m. they went to the railway station to see if they could find some work. They didn't but a man who was going past tossed him 50 ¢ so they had some breakfast. Another day they saw a group of men in a park preparing some food and they invited the boys to eat with them. They sent Wayne to a lake to get some water for coffee and when he stooped over he saw us all praying for his safety.” That prompted Wayne to head home. “On their way home through the mountains they nearly froze at night and slept in old abandoned kilns.” He later remembered arriving home and having his mother run down the path to meet him.

“Wayne was interested in becoming a song writer, wrote several songs and sent them to Hollywood to be published.  He had saved up his money in Picture Butte to get to Hollywood, but he got as far as Seattle and he made his home with Aunt Maude and Uncle Tommy Ott.”   This was in 1936.  It was while he lived in Bellingham that he began to lose his hair. 

Over the next few years, he had various retail jobs. He sold hosiery at The Golden Rule department store then later did window displays and became head salesman. He belonged to the Bellingham Ski Club and began doing a lot of ski photography on Mt. Baker. One of his photos was used on the business card of the Golden Rule Ski Shop.

After teaching Sunday School in a friend’s Congregational Church where they agreed to let him teach LDS doctrine, he began attending church at the Bellingham LDS chapel. In August of 1937, he was sustained as 1st counselor in the Y.M.M.I.A. in the newly formed Bellingham Ward. He was in several Mutual plays. One time, while he was examining a pistol that misfired during a M.I.A. play, the pistol fired, severely burning his left hand and the arm of a little girl. Both were taken to doctor.

“It was at Bellingham that I met Carroll Campbell. She had moved from New York to Bellingham to attend college. Carroll, who soon found her way to the Bellingham Ward, shortly thereafter entered the waters of baptism. On August 25, 1940, we were married in the church in Bellingham. By this time I had gone to Business College and Carroll had completed her teacher's training. We moved right after our marriage to Seattle.”

From there they moved to some acreage in Alderwood Manor. Wayne wanted to try his hand at a chicken farm and he also worked in the ship yards.

“I spent the years 1944-45 in the Navy where, after six months' schooling, I was assigned to the attack Transport USS Sanborn and took part in the invasion of Okinawa and Iwo Jima.

When Wayne returned, he got a job with U & I Sugar Company as a salesman in Tacoma. There he and Carroll added three boys to the two girls born in Seattle. Wayne was put in the bishopric in 1948 and was made bishop over the new Tacoma 3rd Ward in May of 1951 at age 35.

Six months before he died, he told of his first call as bishop. President Payne of the Seattle Stake had called him to his office and asked him to be bishop of the new Tacoma 3rd Ward. Dad said he would talk to Mom and pray about it then let President Payne know soon. He got a candy bar on the way out to the car and started to unwrap it in the car when all of a sudden he was possessed by a horrible spirit trying to make him say that he wouldn't accept the call. He was so overtaken by this spirit that he could hardly move, but he was able to say a prayer in his heart and immediately the spirit left. He later accepted the call.

A brother in his ward wrote, “Wayne was a good sport, ready to lead out in the recreational events. One night at a ward dance we were having difficulty getting the people to dance. Wayne came over to me and we danced together, trying to break the ice. Everyone laughed and soon everyone was participating.”

“While Wayne was bishop we began building our chapel. He worked diligently on that project with all sorts of fund raising projects. One was (we had a $300 assessment which was monumental for that time) a Christmas tree lot. He didn't know a thing about marketing trees, but he got a lot on Pacific Highway and bought trees. Well, he got a load of bummers, but Heavenly Father knew his motives so he sent a mighty snowstorm which kept people from going to the country to get their trees. So there were some mighty skinny trees that were sold from that lot, but I hope they were especially beautifully decorated and shone extra bright as we made our $300 assessment.”

In September of 1952, Wayne was called as 2nd counselor to the president in the newly formed Tacoma Stake. He served a little more than a year then, late in 1953, he accepted a transfer to Portland, Oregon, by the U&I Sugar Company. He went back to Tacoma each weekend until he could move his family six months later. Three more children were born in Portland making a family of three girls and four boys.

“Wayne got rheumatic fever the first summer we were there. He got sick when we were at the ocean, his sickness affecting his joints. So when we came home he spent a month in bed. He recovered and was able to go back to work but he never had the same vigor as he had before. He was made high priest president and then called to the high council and we often went with him on his assignments.” He had several leadership callings and was called as bishop of the Portland 9th Ward in November of 1957 where he served for four years.

Wayne was a good speaker and used to try to give talks that would be interesting to young people in the congregation. When he was on the high council, his family often traveled with him to other wards on speaking assignments. He frequently recited the poem "Tugging at the String" and told the story of "The Other Wiseman" at Christmas time. He loved King Benjamin and often spoke of him. He wrote a song entitled, “We Are Happy When United” and submitted it to the Church for publication.. It never was published although it was performed in his ward.

“Dad was a good family man. I think, in some ways, he was ahead of his time. He was comfortable in the kitchen and with household chores, a good example to his sons. I can remember him fixing breakfast on Saturday mornings so that Mom could rest. Sometimes he brought bread dough home from the bakery and fried up scones. He often worked with us girls to get dinner started when Mom was late getting home from work. He helped us with dishes, particularly on Sunday, and tried to get us to do them uncomplainingly, a true challenge! Because he worked in stores, he did much of the grocery shopping. He was willing to help around the house when needed, sometimes ironing his own shirts or pressing his suit when Mom was busy.”

Though his personal time was limited, he particularly loved working in his garden. He built a patio with a fish pond at the side of the house and also a rose garden on a berm at the front. He tried grapes, planted fruit trees and many flowers. Another hobby was candy making. Several families looked forward to a quart of his peanut brittle at Christmas time. He loved to watch hockey games and played some golf. He was interested in geological formations and bought a movie camera shortly before he died.

His children remember many family campouts to the ocean. When they were younger, he would rent a cabin for the family to use in the daytime while he worked. When older, they would take a huge Navy tent and stay weekends. Sometimes he would take a child to work with him visiting stores and canneries then buying them lunch in a restaurant, a rare experience. He hired the older girls to demonstrate U&I Sugar, giving out packages and making cotton candy.

“Wayne's heart began to bother him and it curtailed our activities. He became very tired, but never spared himself much. I remember getting quite upset and one day after Wayne got home I started to cry and he asked what was the matter. I couldn't say except that I was worried about him. So he went and had another physical. His report was there was no reason he shouldn't live for a good long time with proper rest and exercise. It wasn't in the books for us as he passed away while we were Christmas shopping the following December 23, 1963. It was a great shock to us and a great loss.”

In his forty eight years, Wayne had made many friends and touched many lives both in his occupation and in his church work. He was warm, personable, hospitable, tender hearted and sympathetic. This was apparent by the number of people at his funeral. His death had been announced on Portland radio stations. Carroll wrote that there was an estimated crowd of 700 filling the chapel and cultural hall. They ran out of chairs and programs.

"To close the pages of life of one so dear is a very hard task. We can only accept the call of our Heavenly Father in His wisdom that my dear husband has been called to a greater service of the Lord than he could perform here on this earth. He leaves behind a devoted family and many hundreds of friends who loved and admired him for his sweet and humble spirit.

"He is deeply missed. Were it not for the gospel and the knowledge that we will see and live together in the eternity , life would be very meaningless, but we know this life is a testing place and we'll all be together on the other side if we live worthy of this privilege and up to the vows we took at our temple marriage Sept 10. 1946."

His children have greatly benefited from their parentage. Most, if not all, of them, at one time or another, has lived in the Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland areas and had people tell them how much they thought of Wayne and Carroll, reinforcing the value of being born by goodly parents.

We believe that his influence has extended beyond the grave. Carroll, Grandma, Edythe and his children have had sweet experiences letting them know of his continued love and concern. As with Mother, our goal is to live worthy to be with him again in an eternal family unit.

1.   1998 Ancestral File.
2.   Patron Archive Record.