Obituary of Loye Wayne Young

Loye Wayne Young, 77, passed away, Saturday, April 15, 2017. He is preceded in death by his parents, Cecil and Ila Young. Loye is survived by his loving wife of 24 years, Mary Sparks Young; sons, Loye Wayne Young Jr. and wife, Sue Ellen, Jim Young, Robert Renton and wife, Amy, and Stuart Young and wife, Laura; daughters, Margaret Higgins and husband, Kerry and Meredith Sansoucy and husband, John; brother, Arlin Young and wife, Joyce; sisters, Jo Ann Vandiver and husband, Walter and Mary Ballew and husband, Robert; grandchildren, Isaac Benitez-Young, Baylor Young, Evan Benitez-Young, Matthew Renton, William Renton, Jack Higgins, Kelley Young, Marla Higgins, Greg Young, Joshua Renton, Erica Higgins, Samson Sansoucy, Luke Higgins, and Jude Sansoucy; and a host of other family and friends. Loye was born April 10, 1940 in Nashville, Arkansas. Raised on a sharecropper’s farm, he learned the values of hard work and strong faith by working first on a peach orchard and then on a farm. By the time he was in the second grade, he was helping plow the fields using a mule and a plow. When he was 13, the family moved to Ft. Worth, where he continued to work and go to school. In high school Loye began training for the newly emerging field of electronics. In 1960, at the age of 19, he became the youngest television repairman for RCA. With the knowledge gained in that field, he went on to work for the Bendix Aerospace Systems Corporation in Maryland, where he worked on the flight control systems used in the Apollo Program at NASA. Later transferring to work directly for NASA in radar/communication systems control and operation in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the facility that later became the Kennedy Space Center. Loye worked with the team responsible for maintaining the communication link between Mission Control and spacecraft in flight. While at NASA, Loye also earned his FCC license. Wanting to get back to Texas, Loye applied for and received a transfer to the NASA Tracking Station located in Corpus Christi. After the Apollo missions, NASA began downsizing, so Loye took a job with Spahn Hospital, where he was in charge of Biomedical Engineering, Maintenance, and Housekeeping. He also obtained his Master Electrician's License and could repair anything. If someone told him how a piece of equipment was supposed to work, he could repair it without knowing anything about the equipment. He was transferred to another hospital in Paris, Texas doing the same kind of work. Finally, in 1997, in partnership with his wife Mary Young and step-son Robert Renton, Loye established Superior LMS, Inc., a wire rope and rigging shop in Pearland, Texas, that is still in operation today. Even though he always worked hard, he was able to do the things he wanted to do. He built and drove racecars. He learned to fly and later bought a 4-seat Cessna 172 plane. Loye loved his grandkids dearly and started “Grandkids' Day” many years ago on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It is a day for the grandkids to decorate the Christmas tree, play games, decorate cookies or cupcakes, do crafts, and whatever else they want to do. The day ends with a campfire in the backyard making hot dogs and s'mores. A sleepover is included. They must love it because they keep coming back although a couple of them are in their 20's now. Services for Loye will be held at Clayton Funeral Home, 5530 W. Broadway, Pearland, Texas 77581. The visitation will be held Friday, April 21, 2017 from 6:00 until 8:00 pm. The Chapel Service will take place Saturday, April 22, 2017 at 10:00 am. Interment will be Saturday, April 29, 2017 at Laurel Land Memorial Park, 7100 Crowley Rd., Fort Worth, Texas 76134 at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Loye’s honor to the Shriners Hospitals for Children at http://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org