Ivan Waylan Alewine

Ivan “Waylan” Alewine of Groesbeck, passed away at Hillcrest Hospital in Waco, on Monday, June 10, 2013. Waylan was the third son born July 26, 1937 to Florence and Ollie Alewine. Waylan grew up in the Big Hill community on a farm with three brothers and a baby sister. The hard work and discipline Waylan and his siblings experienced helping their parents operate a farm/ranch business shaped his personality for the rest of his life. He was an All-District performer in football at Groesbeck High School and a leader in in the Future Farmers of America. After graduating High School in 1955, Waylan attended John Tarleton Junior College and Sam Houston State. While attending Sam Houston he met and married Martha Jean Wilson in May 1957. He brought his bride home to Big Hill to his parent’s farm while he enlisted in the U.S. National Guard. After returning from the Guard, he and Jean moved to Cayuga and worked for the Carpenter Ranch. While working for Mr. Carpenter, his son Mark Allen was born in November 1965. In January 1966, he entered the Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden Academy. After graduating from the academy, he was stationed in Matagorda County. In March 1968, his baby girl, Lisa Ellen was born. Waylan always wanted to come back to his home and in May 1971, his dream came true when he was transferred to Limestone County, where he worked for the remainder of his career. Besides working as a Game Warden, his other passion was farming and ranching. He and his brother Homer Paul had the 2A Ranch at Big Hill. Waylan was a member of Groesbeck Masonic Lodge #354. After retiring from being a Game Warden, he also retired from farming and ranching to hit the wide open highways, travelling and working the flea market circuit. He loved to spend the summer months in the cooler western states to get out of the Texas hot summers. Waylan then started a thriving produce business, growing and selling produce until his health failed. He was a hardworking man, who instilled a strong work ethic in his children. He lived by a motto, “You can sleep, when you’re dead;” often telling this to his kids, son-in-law and grandchildren when they wanted to rest. Now he can finally sleep. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Lenoel Alewine, his brother Homer Alewine, and brother Joe Alewine. He is survived by his son, Mark Alewine and his fiancée Angie Harris; daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and C. W. Bruner; grandchildren, Cody Bruner, Caycee Bruner, Sam Alewine, Jessica Lemoine, Jennifer Lemoine, and Jasmine Lemoine, all of Groesbeck. Also, his baby sister Rita Davis and her husband Leo of Deer Park; sister-in-laws, Ann Alewine of Big Hill and Nancy Alewine of Groesbeck. He is also survived by nieces and nephews will also miss him greatly: Danny Alewine and wife Karen of Bryan, Diane Doughty and her husband Terry of Ft. Worth, Rucker Davis and his wife Nikki of Houston, Cindy Spess and her husband Stephen of Austin, Mike Davis and his wife Julie of Pearland, Amanda Alewine and her husband John Blackley of Austin, Sheri Thetford and her husband Stan of Ivanhoe, and Rocky Sorensen and his wife Denise of Wellington, and also great nephews and nieces: Eric Doughty and his wife Tarah, Chance Alewine and his wife, Shy, Noah Davis, Celia Davis, Luke Davis, Chase Davis, Ethan Spess; and a great, great nephew Carter Doughty. A celebration of Waylan’s life will be held at the First United Methodist Church of Groesbeck on Saturday June 15, 2013. Interment will be at Big Hill Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be C.W. Bruner, Cody Bruner, Danny Alewine, Sam Alewine, Rucker Davis and Mike Davis The Texas Game Wardens, Limestone County Sheriff’s Office and the Brazos River Authority will be serving as honorary pallbearers. Memorials can be made in Waylan’s name to the Big Hill Cemetery Association, as this was a cause that Waylan cared about greatly. (Mail to Pamela Sodd, 286 LCR 626, Groesbeck, TX. 76642.)