Wayne "Gene" Moyer, age 77 of Beavercreek, passed away on Easter Sunday, April 1st, 2018, at Hospice of Dayton. He was born February 16th, 1941, in Lancaster Hospital to Wayne and Myrtle Moyer of Bremen, Ohio. He is preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Richard Moyer.

Wayne is survived by his loving wife, Kay, his daughters Karen Petering, Sheila (John) Alflen, Deborah (Steven) Paul, and Patricia (Stephen) Shannon; his grandchildren John Alflen, Jacqueline Paul, Christina Jackowski, Jennifer Alflen, Michelle Petering, Adam Paul, Cleo Shannon, and Maggie Shannon; his great-grandson Quentin Rhubert; his sister-in-law, Deborah Moyer; his nephew, Jeffrey (Lindsey) Moyer; his great-niece, Ollie Moyer, and many cousins.

Wayne was a 1959 graduate of Rushcreek Memorial High School, where he was on the basketball and football teams, a member of the band and was co-valedictorian of his class. He won several awards and a scholarship for college as a participant in their Vo-Ag program, and he earned a scholarship to Boy Scout camp and served his community as an Eagle Scout. As a National Merit Scholar he received a scholarship to attend the University of Cincinnati, where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1964. He then received his Master's Degree in Aeromechanical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Wayne's childhood fascination with everything airplane grew into a 37 year career as a Conceptual Design Engineer at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where he participated in the preliminary design of most current USAF systems. He retired after serving as Lead Engineer for the ATF (now F-22) Conceptual Design/Evaluation Phase.

Wayne was an avid airplane enthusiast and pilot. In his words, "I cannot remember a time when I was not fascinated with airplanes or did not want to fly." He began building and winning competitions for his model airplanes as soon as he was allowed to hold a single-edge razor blade. From there he branched out into car and ship models. Wayne was well known in the IPMS community as a builder, competitor, reviewer, and an author. He wrote his first model article in the fall of 1972, and he was then asked to be a reviewer of model kits. That started his second career as a journalist, and he has written approximately two thousand articles for at least 43 different model, aviation, automobile, and racing magazines. From 1983 to 1994 he was a weekend photojournalist, covering races or providing photo documentation to several model manufacturers. In addition to documenting their exterior, Wayne worked with these manufacturers to establish the exact dimensions for their model kits.

A private pilot since 1969, Wayne's biggest kit project to date has been building a Van's RV-12 two seat airplane with his best friend, Geoff Hays. He made his first solo flight in "Little Bird II" in September, 2010. In both this plane, and his prior American AA 1 Yankee, "Little Bird I", Wayne has flown 374 EAA Young Eagle Program participants. Through this volunteer program, Wayne was able to inspire children and allow them to "grow their wings" by introducing them to the world of aviation.

Wayne was a man of faith who was an active member of Mt. Zion Church. Under the choir direction of his wife, Kay, he was a member of the Chancel Choir and the Faithful Men Choir. Wayne attributed the opportunities that arose for him in his life to the hand of God. He left this world at peace, sure in his faith, and eager to know what would be on the other side when he took the hand of his creator. Even in this, he demonstrated his love of flying. Speaking with the pastor about Heaven, shortly before his passing, the pastor referenced a passage describing streets lined in diamonds, silver, and gold. Wayne replied, "Pastor, I have already seen this sight when I looked down to see the light hit the clouds, as I was flying."

Wayne was instrumental in introducing the hobby of collecting and building 1/43rd scale die-cast metal miniature cars into the United States in the early 1960’s. Working with several companies in the United Kingdom such as Marc Europa, Paddy Stanley Models, and John Day Models, Wayne would obtain copies of their models and write combination vehicle history/model review articles. In doing so he made collectors throughout the United States aware of how the hobby was rapidly growing in the UK and Europe. Soon these companies recognized Wayne’s expertise and historical knowledge, and he became a much sought-after source of technical, engineering and historical information for new models on both sides of the Atlantic. American companies like the Indianapolis Motor Racing Association, Precision Miniatures, Grand Prix Models and Auto Buff Models of Oakland, CA became leading manufactures in the scale here in the United States and Wayne’s reviews, and research expertise helped to make them some of the best in the World. His passion for automobile racing, miniature car collecting and construction continued to the end of his life. Over the years he carefully crafted a personal World Class collection to nearly 4,000 1/43rd scale models.

A memorial gathering will be held at Newcomer Beavercreek Chapel, 3380 Dayton-Xenia Rd. Beavercreek, OH 45432, on Apr 23rd from 5:00 - 8:00 pm

Visitation for friends and family will be held on Apr 24th from 10:00 - 11:00 am prior to the 11:00 am service at Mt. Zion Church, 428 Shepherd Rd. Xenia, OH 45385 with a luncheon at the church to follow the services.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to EAA, Chapter 382 Young Eagle Program or SISCA, 2600 Wilmington Pike, Dayton, OH 45419.

Condolences may be left for the family at NewcomerDayton.com, please click on Share Memories.