Wayne attended one room Garr Creek Country School District #33. As a child, he enjoyed playing baseball, ice skating with neighborhood kids on Jordan Creek and working with his father on the farm. At Waverly High School, Wayne was in school plays and pitched for the baseball team. Involved in FFA, he raised turkeys as a project and earned the State Farmer Degree.
Graduating in 1942, he enrolled at the University of Nebraska. He then served in the Army in WWII with the rank of Technical Sergeant; he was primarily stationed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. After discharge, Wayne returned to UNL. He was a member of Baldwin Hall Boarding Club and FarmHouse Fraternity. Wayne worked as an undergraduate teaching assistant in the Agronomy Department. A member of scholastic honoraries Alpha Zeta and Gamma Sigma Delta, he earned highest distinction with a B.S. in General Agriculture in 1950.
Wayne met Wanda Pearson of Lyons on East Campus; they married in 1953. In the 1950s to early 60s, Wayne taught welding to GIs and was a substitute teacher for Waverly High School ag classes. Wayne started farming with chickens, a farrow to finish swine operation and a couple of milk cows. He had a small cow/calf herd and marketed finished beef. Over the years, Wayne grew oats, grain sorghum, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, prairie hay and corn. Due to the diversification of the farm and their association with UNL, Wayne and Wanda hosted agricultural tours for small groups from across the world. This provided unique cultural experiences for their family.
In 1958, Wayne was named Outstanding Young Farmer of Nebraska by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1966, he was selected by the Omaha World Herald to represent farmers as Midland Farmer of the Year, and in 2005, awarded the Nebraska Conservation Award. Wayne was appointed by Nebraska Governors to serve on the Wheat Utilization and Marketing Board (1970-75 and 1990-95). He was a founding member of the Grain Sorghum Check-off Board (1981-83). Locally, he served on the Lancaster City/County Planning Commission, and the Boards of Lancaster Extension, Waverly Schools, Bethlehem Lutheran Church and Danish Cemetery, both of Davey. He was inducted into the Nebraska Agricultural Hall of Achievement in 1972.
Wayne is survived by daughters Karen (Lowell) Schardt, Gretna, Cheryl, (Ward Freeburg) Dalton, NE, Nancy (Joe) Peschel, Phillips, NE, son David (Vicki) Nielsen, rural Lincoln; Grandchildren are Greg (Leah) Schardt, Papillon, Tamara Schardt (Jared Miller), Ames, IA, Derek Schardt (Carly Wacker), Omaha, Weston Peschel, Brookings, SD, Taylor Nielsen, Jordan Nielsen, Connor Nielsen, rural Lincoln; great grandchildren are Landon, Holden and Dalton Wayne Schardt, Papillon, and Isla and Elias Arthur Schardt, Omaha; sister-in-law is Donna Fairley, Geneva.
Wayne was preceded in death by his wife of 71 years, Wanda, on January 11, 2025; parents, Arthur and Anna Nielsen, brother LeRoy, brothers and sisters-in-law Robert and Cathie (Pearson Leisher), Duane and Gayle Pearson, brother-in-law Charles Fairley.
Funeral services will be held at United Lutheran Church, 5945 Fremont St., Lincoln, on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. Visitation is one hour prior to service. A luncheon will follow the service.
A private committal service for family will then be held at the Danish Cemetery, North Highway 77, Davey.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials to NE Farm Bureau Foundation, “Ag in the Class Room”.