A glorious, mystic band of family, friends, trumpets and French horns have gathered to open the welcoming gates of Heaven to proclaim and celebrate the joyful arrival of Wayne "Flash" Garrison.

Wayne Garrison was born in Brooking, S.D., on May 1, 1909. In 1926, at the age of 17, he and his older brother Floyd helped load George and Grace Garrison and the family of seven into his father's Model T sedan, and his brother's Ford coupe. They headed west to Long Beach, Calif.

Wayne made many of these round trips over rugged, muddy and unpaved roads, which was probably instrumental in establishing a strong and sound foundation for his values and ethics. Wayne graduated from Long Beach Poly Tech HIgh School. He was very active in several clubs: Honor Guard, Sergeant of the ROTC Club in conjunction with the Stars and Stripes Club, plus the Rifle Club and Speed Ball team. He was a member of the Advanced Orchestra Club. Wayne led the Long Beach Poly Tech High School Marching Band in the Rose Parade, as well as directing them in performances of KNX Radio.

His best friend and competitor for Band Leader was "Spike" Jones. In the 1930s he was employed at the Atlantic Richfield Oil station near Third and Fairfax in Los Angeles. His favorite clients were Loretta Young and her sisters who lived just down the street. Many other memorable stars gassed up at this station every week and on their way to the Academy Awards. Down the road from the Richfield station Wayne would watch the local farmers park their trucks and sell fresh fruits and vegetables by the roadside on Gilmore Island, which was barren farmland at the time. This land site today is the internationally known Farmer's Market.

Wayne was a co-owner of several quarter midget race cars that were raced at Gilmore Stadium and other tracks around Southern California until World War II. In the interim he was known as "Flash" and became good friends with many of the drivers in Gilmore Stadium's pits, many of whom have sat in the Indy 500 Winner's Circle. Because of the friendship with these "racing buddies" he has remained an avid and dedicated Indy 500 fan on every Memorial Day weekend for the past 64 years.

Wayne owned two airplanes simultaneously. He taught himself how to fly his first plane, a World War I trainer plane. He discovered many years later that the training pilots nicknamed this model "suicide planes" because of the incidences of instability. He said he wanted to "learn how to fly, and the price was right." Wayne's career led him to Northrup Aircraft where he was promoted to management and worked repairing large machinery for 33 years.

At 40 he married and spent the next 53 years with the love of his life, Lois, and her family. They enjoyed traveling and the arts while creating a joyful and loving life together.

Always the adventurer, at 97, and 98, he flew to Hawaii for the second and third time with his daughter and granddaughter. He said he felt like "ten million bucks" while on boat excursions and island adventures in a convertible. Wayne was the epitome of a standup citizen, and the purest example of a true man of integrity and commitment. He never hesitated to share his spirit of love of a full life that was well led.

Our feelings of sorrow from his absence will be divided amongst many, and the remembrance of the joy of his presence will forever be multiplied. Farewell sweet prince, thank you for choosing us to love and enriching our lives with your integrity.

He is survived by his daughter, Dee Hoskins; a granddaughter, Julie Nielsen of Thousand Oaks; and grandson, Chris Nielsen of Moorpark; his youngest brother, Don Garrison of Bridgeport and his family, in addition to several nieces, nephews and cousins.

We are extremely grateful to Hospice Vitas for providing a peaceful exit to a very kind and gentle man. A celebration memorial will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 9 at Griffin family Mortuary in Thousand Oaks.