Gilroy
– Wayne Carlson always had a bit of wisdom at the tip of his
tongue.
”
It is what it is,
”
he would say, or
”
Give it up in slices, get it back in loaves.
”
Gilroy – Wayne Carlson always had a bit of wisdom at the tip of his tongue.
“It is what it is,” he would say, or “Give it up in slices, get it back in loaves.”
When his renters fell behind on payments, he would cut them slack. After all, he reasoned, “they need it more than I do.”
The long-time Realtor known for his giving spirit died Monday night after a year-long fight with bone cancer. The man who made “Wayne-isms” famous among family and friends was 63 years old.
“I was lucky enough to see my dad everyday,” said his son Brad Carlson, who worked with his father for the last nine years. “That was the nicest thing, to be able to come to the office and see him everyday … He was just so caring. He never had a bad word to say about anybody.”
Carlson was born in 1943 in North Dakota, the son of Henry and Ida Carlson. He graduated from college with a teaching degree but pursued a career in banking after moving to California in 1964. After starting his career at First Valley Bank in Los Gatos, he moved to Gilroy in 1971 to help form Gavilan Bank. He worked there until 1980, when he started his own real estate company.
“He was well-known as a doer,” said Jan Wallace, who lives on the same street as Carlson and worked with him professionally in her job with Chicago Title. His professional life started working for Bill Filice, she said, but accounted for only part of his reputation in the community. For years, he was also an active member of the Elks Lodge and the Lions and Rotary clubs, and made “behind-the-scenes” donations to St. Joseph’s Family Center and other charitable groups, his son said.
Carlson worked in real estate until 2006, and was planning to retire and explore the country by road until he fell ill.
Lettia Morton met Carlson 20 years ago, when he sold her a home. After encouraging her to get into the real estate business, he went on to serve as her mentor and confidant for the next two decades. Morton was one of many agents for whom Carlson served as a guiding light.
Last Thursday, at a weekly marketing session of Gilroy Realtors, a room of about 200 agents learned that Carlson was in his last days.
“Everyone took a moment of silence,” Morton said. “Not everyone knew Wayne, but they knew of his reputation. He was transcendent. He was an angel.”
Carlson is survived by his wife of 43 years, Kay; his sons and their wives, Brad and Carrie, Barry and Kathy, and Bryce and Tara; his granddaughters Brenn and Maddy; his sister Yvonne and her husband Terry Marra; and numerous sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews.
A viewing will be held today from 1 to 9pm at Habing Family Funeral Home at the corner of Eigleberry and Fourth streets. A service will be held at 11am Friday at the Gilroy Presbyterian Church, 6000 Miller Ave.
