Sandia Hampton, wife, prayed before writing this story because she wanted the sole intent to be a snapshot of Wayne's 79 years of living to include his overall life, most importantly his testimony & walk with the Lord and his illness for the past 20 years. She wrote the things she did so that if Wayne were in the congregation he would be comfortable with its contents. Wayne and Sandia just celebrated 21 years of marriage December 7th. They have a sweet love story and many folks close to them called them "lovebirds".

Wayne was born to Gay Loretta Jane Brown Hampton and Harley Hampton on May 9, 1936 in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The youngest of 4 children, he had two sisters and a brother. Wayne always loved music—his folks gave him a Gibson guitar when he was about 15 years of age. He attended a Presbyterian church down the street from their home. He and his friends would go to one of their homes after evening worship, and he would play his guitar while they sang. Wayne began working at the age of 14 at the A&P, followed by working in the summers at the Montreat Christian Center helping his dad lay stone coupled with working for a laundry company. He made regular visits to the Billy Graham home and remembers two things vividly—the kindness of Ruth Graham and the very large friendly dog. Mrs. Graham's dad (Dr. Bell) was a physician and Wayne recalled a time when he and his dad visited his office but his dad had no money to pay. Dr. Bell said that was okay. He even made a house call to the Hampton home once when Wayne was very sick. Billy Graham used to hold services for the local folks when he returned to Black Mountain after traveling and conducting crusades. One of those occasions, at 15 years of age and right before his 16th birthday, the Lord spoke to Wayne and he stepped forward to make a profession of faith asking Jesus to come into his heart. Wayne received a personalized letter from Rev. Graham regarding his decision in accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. As a matter of fact, this Christmas Sandia had the letter and envelope framed as a gift to Wayne. In 1955, Wayne graduated from Owen High School in Black Mountain. He then entered the United States Air Force where he spent 23 years serving his country. A quick timeline includes: basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX. He completed technical training and instructional school at Francis E. Warren in Cheyenne, WY and remained there as an instructor. Later he transferred to Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC; Dover AFB in Delaware; Loan AFB outside Paris, France; Langley AFB in Hampton, VA; Chili AFB in Izmir, Turkey where he was NCO in charge of Maintenance Control; Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC; Ebon AFB in Thailand where he was NCO in charge of the aircraft ground support equipment and Branch 8th Field Maintenance Squadron. In 1972 he received the AF Commendation medal for Meritorious Service in working in adverse conditions and long hours, 12-14 hours a day. And his unit earned the U.S. Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with "V" device for Valor and the Daedalian Maintenance Trophy. That same year, he met a man who was the Sunday school teacher for the Chapel. That man—Lt Col Dwight Bunn and Wayne became friends quickly enjoying ice cream when they could and remain friends to this day. Wayne transferred to Patrick AFB in Satellite Beach, FL as a Senior Master Sgt. In 1975, he was selected as an instructor for the Senior NCO Academy at Gunter AFB in Montgomery, AL and later transferred over to Maxwell AFB in Montgomery where he retired in 1978. He received numerous commendation medals throughout his 23 years of military service.

During his time in the Air Force, Wayne had the opportunity to preach a sermon at the Cigli Air Base Chapel in Cigli, Turkey. The date was August 3, 1969 and the sermon was "If You Will—Because—Come What May". Wayne also had the opportunity to visit the Seven Churches of Asia while in Turkey. He told Sandia more than once this was an experience he would always remember.

In 1977, through the encouragement of a fellow co-worker, Wayne began taking college courses, took the CLEP Exam allowing him to enter as a sophomore at Auburn University at Montgomery. He was rather surprised as he was an average student academically in high school—Mrs. Woody, his favorite teacher and also very pretty, always told Wayne if he just applied himself he could be an "A" student!

Shortly after he retired from the AF, Wayne and his family moved from Montgomery to Birmingham, AL when he was offered a job with Alabama Power Company where he held several jobs of responsibility in the training department and in human resources. It was during this time he enrolled in Samford University full-time, working full-time and teaching a men's Sunday School Class at Shades Crest Baptist Church. In 1980, he received his associate degree in general studies and in 1982 he graduated with a bachelor's degree in general studies and with honors as a member of the Phi Kappa Phi. He then enrolled in the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he graduated Cum Laude in 1984 with a Master of Arts in Education in the rehabilitation of the severely, mentally and physically handicapped. In 1985 he received his Educational Specialist Degree in the rehabilitation of the severely, mentally and physically handicapped also from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He then applied to the Ph.D. program and was accepted but decided he needed a break. He was promoted to the Employee Assistance Program Coordinator for Alabama Power Company and at that time responsible for 10,500 employees and their family members throughout the entire state for counseling purposes. After Wayne made tenure at Alabama Power he retired and took over a counseling practice from a former professor. This was a dream of his to help hurting people—young children loved him so much that his name got around as someone specializing in counseling very young children. After 5 years he closed his practice, as he had been commuting round trip to his office in Fort Payne, having accepted a role with Medical Business Management (MBM) which would be his last job—Senior Counselor working with the most difficult cases. When he and Sandia moved to Panama City, the Medical Director for MBM told Wayne if he ever moved back to Birmingham he would always have a job for him there.

Wayne and Sandia quickly found themselves a part of St. Andrew Baptist Church in March 1995. They were active members and part of the Chapel Class. Wayne and Sandia volunteered in Extended Session, Vacation Bible School, Treat-n-Trunk and put together a program for Children's Church (5 year olds) and the two of them taught this class for 5 years. It was a great joy for both of them. When they moved to the beach in 2004 they felt the Lord wanted them to be a part of a church there and so for 1.5 years they spent their time there in worship and ministering to others. Then as they share the story, the Lord allowed them to come back to SABC. Their mission at the beach church was complete. Then in the mid part of 2010 Sandia's work took them on an adventure to Midland, TX—1100 miles away. They thought it was due to the job, but it really had nothing to do with the job and everything to do with their walk with the Lord. After visiting many churches in Midland they were drawn to two. The Lord made the decision for them—Bellview Baptist Church—a membership of about 200 families. It was certainly a busy little church—always doing something for someone. Wayne and Sandia quickly became involved and were the narrators for the Christmas Program as well as the Easter Program. They both helped with the audio/visual equipment on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights. Wayne loved this church as much as he loved St. Andrew Baptist Church. He sang regularly on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights. One particular member (a man a tad younger than Wayne) who had a beautiful voice shared publicly that Wayne had encouraged him to use his voice to sing as he did not think he sang well and he had not sung publicly until that evening at church! Wayne did a small concert for the Widows and Widowers Luncheon and also did the commencement for the Senior Graduating Class the only year we were there during May—2011. He then shared two songs with this class and the congregation. Sandia and Wayne were members of the Sunday School Class there—the Joy Class and before coming back to Panama City helped the class paint a lady's home one Saturday.

Returning back to 1995, about nine months after joining St. Andrew Baptist Church Wayne's physical life changed forevermore. In December 1995, Wayne suffered a stroke—a brain aneurysm in the thalamic area of the brain. This particular area is about the size of a walnut and the clearinghouse for controlling pain. Wayne had to learn all over again how to walk, talk, eat and do daily activities—about 2+ years of rehab. The result of the stroke brought on Thalamic Pain Syndrome or Central Pain Syndrome for which there is absolutely no cure. There was an article that appeared in the American Stroke Association magazine Stroke. The September/October 2003 edition. The title of the article is a "Waking Nightmare—the Daily Torment of Central Pain or Thalamic Pain Syndrome." Wayne found out three key things about TPS: 1) it was the worst pain known to man with the highest rate of suicide. 2) Most physicians are ignorant of this condition and 3) Many healthcare providers dismiss it as a psychiatric problem. Lay people would call it "phantom pain". For 20 years, Wayne took a regiment of medications that included initially 4200 mg of Neurontin which later was reduced to 3600 mg. He took meds to try and keep him even—anti-anxiety coupled with anti-depressants. All in all he took 16 different medications all a result of the stroke. About seven years later and shortly after Charles Billingsley visited St. Andrew Baptist Church, Wayne was sitting on the couch at home when God spoke to him saying, "Wayne I want you to sing for me." It was so plain—Wayne said, "Lord you can't call me now at my age—in pain—no saliva and I really can't sing." God's answer was "my grace is sufficient for you." Wayne fell on his knees and said, "Yes Lord, I will go where you want me to go and do what you ask of me." What you need to know is this was the third time God had called him to sing—not long after he was saved he felt a call in his heart that God was asking him to sing. Wayne said no—he had no idea how to start such a journey and not enough faith to turn everything over to Him. Then somewhere in Wayne's 20's he felt the "call" again. However, this time he was in the Air Force and gave the same answer of no. Wayne began to practice and train his voice—he even took voice lessons. One day, Sandia went home from work and heard someone singing—she could not believe it was Wayne! Wayne used his voice as Jesus directed and had standing services starting with Alterra House—later called Sterling and now called Brookdale Assisted Living Facility. As a matter of fact, one of their residents gave Wayne a $50 bill to go towards his ministry—Songs of the Heart Ministry. This money is still in its original envelope in a safety deposit box and will remain there as a memory to Wayne and the gentleman who donated this to him. Sandia would help Wayne pack up the very large and heavy equipment once a week in the evening and off they would go to Alterra House. Later Wayne began singing at other Assisted Living Facilities and Nursing Homes. The service always ended with Wayne going around and passing out freely his smiles, encouraging words and great hugs. In time, Wayne was invited to sing in churches throughout Bay County and then he was asked to join the Emerald Coast Southern Gospel Music Association (ECSGMA). The first year of membership he was invited to give his testimony and sing at a pre-event for the members. Wayne had always wanted to make a professional CD, so Sandia took on a second job to raise the monies. He cut his CD—A WALKING MIRACLE in the fall of 2008. He was honored to sing on stage at the Marina Civic Center as part of the ECSGMA in January of 2009 and 2010. Then his ministry moved to Midland, Texas, when Sandia took a job in that area. And of course, as noted earlier, his ministry continued with his voice continuing to truly touch hearts as so many people shared this with him. During this time and after sufficient CDs had been sold to re-coup the monies necessary to pay for cutting the CD, Wayne felt led to start giving away his CDs when his heart was touched to do so. He and Sandia have continued to this day with this ministry and it will be continued by Sandia. Whenever, they went out of town a box of CDs would go with them. Recently, when they were in Hamilton, GA on vacation, they were having ice cream in a parlor and felt the tug to give away a CD. The folks like everyone else were so touched, so just about the time Wayne and Sandia got to their car, the owner yelled into the parking lot for them to come back in. They had an old juke box converted to play CDs and there was Wayne singing in the ice cream parlor! It was the highlight of their trip. There is one church member who is on her third copy—she played out the first two! Wayne's health turned in an odd direction about a year after coming back to Panama City from Midland, and he no longer could sing outside of home because he could not carry all the equipment due to his balance being off at times. He loved to peck on Sandia's piano, he played his harmonica, his autoharp and his favorite instrument—his guitar—he was so proud year before last when he bought his first guitar—a Taylor as he finally had to retire his Gibson. When he passed away he was learning the cords to Midnight Cry—the song that Charles Billingsley sang at St. Andrew Baptist Church long ago and the first song Wayne learned to sing. The cords are written down on a sheet of paper on his desk. Wayne was practicing with his guitar, instead of tracks, so he could start playing and singing for patients/residents in facilities. The only time Wayne did not feel any pain was when he was asleep or singing!

Those that knew Wayne even for a moment realized his love for Jesus and for people. Everyone who crossed Wayne's path fell in love with him. He never missed an opportunity to share his faith as a believer of Jesus Christ. People were touched by and were vocal about his gentle spirit, his sweet smile, his positive attitude, his warm hugs, his humble character and his generosity to help others. He always gave the young lady that cut his hair her $14 charge and an extra $10 for her kindness. In fact, Wayne had just gotten his hair cut two days before he had the massive heart attack Christmas Day. He was smiling and laughing through his last moments here on earth.

Many mornings when Sandia rose she would find Wayne reading his Bible and when she got home from work she found it open. They had a morning and evening devotion daily. Sandia found one of his former Bibles—The Living Bible—so marked with lines and colors indicating a time of deep study of the passages. It also included a statement from his daughter (probably she was a pre-teen at the time) that said "The Joy of Living is Jesus." Wayne loved Jesus more than life itself, and he was always listening for His voice as to what He wanted Wayne to do next.

Wayne named his CD "A Walking Miracle" because his neurologist told him that only 3-5% of the people who have a brain aneurysm live. There are so many stories of Wayne where, under normal circumstances he should have already been with Jesus or paralyzed. One such story happened 3 years ago in the Joyce Kilmer Forrest in North Carolina. He and Sandia had just started up the path when shortly thereafter his walking stick hit a rock (it had been raining the day before) and he went down head first an embankment about 10 yards with his head hitting slabs of rock on the way where he stopped short of a creek. Sandia recalls there was no one within screaming distance—she does not recall how she got to Wayne nor how she got him and herself back up to the path. The only answer is angels carried her down and both of them back up. He showed no damage in tests and x-rays done locally or when they returned to Panama City.

His oldest sister, Wilma, died at 9:30 PM the night before he died the next morning—he was very close to her and her husband when he was growing up—she was like a mom to him. He was not aware of her death before he died. A young lady Wayne and Sandia met a few weeks ago in Dillards called the morning Wayne was in surgery and left a message—Sandia listened to the message at the time. The young lady had no idea what was taking place. She expressed in her Texas draw how much the CD meant saying it blessed her so much and is stilling blessing her. That there is such a reverence for the Lord and that she sees why the Lord called Wayne to do this. Their former pastor in Midland told Sandia this week that they loved his spirit and his wife said, "Now Wayne is singing his songs face to face with Jesus." Their former realtor in Midland left a message saying "Wayne's answering machine recording is true and typical of him." The recording says, "Have a blessed day, and if you think about it, every day is a blessed day when you walk with Jesus."

Jesus and his Father have a time for each of us, when the work He has for us on earth is complete and that time came Monday, December 28, 2015 at 11:15 AM. Wayne's presence on earth will always be missed, but his memory will always be present.

Wayne leaves behind the love of his life, his best friend and his caregiver, Sandia Goodin Hampton and their furry babies Tigger and Gracie. He also leaves behind his son, David Hampton and wife Donna, grandsons Matthew and Brandon all of Helena, AL. A daughter, Susan Olive and her husband Russell, granddaughter Regan and grandson Ryan all of Birmingham, AL. Additionally he leaves behind Valerie Lewis and her husband, Troy of Swannanoa, North Carolina; a niece Barbara Allen of Old Fort, North Carolina; a niece, Linda Conard and her husband, Earl of Candler, North Carolina; a nephew Michael Allen and his wife, Dawn of Greer, South Carolina; numerous great nieces and nephews and Doris McMahan Hampton (Wayne's former wife) who lives in Birmingham. Those deceased before him include his mom, Gay Loretta Jane Brown Hampton; his dad, Harley Boone Hampton; his sister, Wilma Allen and his brother Truman Hampton.

The family would like to thank all the staff in the CICU at Bay Medical Center for their attentiveness and kindness. They would like to thank Drs. S. Patel and Dr. Finney for the time and care given to Wayne. And finally a very special thank you to Dr. Seto who showed the family compassion that truly is beyond words that can adequately be expressed. And finally, Sandia would like to share with Dr. William Flynn and his staff a heart full of gratitude and love for the 20+ years they cared for Wayne.

Funeral services will be held at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, January 5, 2016 at St. Andrew Baptist Church. Interment will be on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Andrew Baptist Church, the Panama City Rescue Mission or Zoo World.