Sad to announce the passing of Edward Wynes

Sadly, we must inform WPR members that Edward Wynes, a member of WPR in years past and the recipient of the Planner of the Year Award in 2000 passed away on April 29th. Along with being the Nevada Chapter, APA representative to the WPR executive committee for many years, Ed was a noted planner in many rural communities in Oregon and Nevada – often the planning director in the communities that he served.

EDWARD DWAYNE WYNES, June 16, 1941–April 29, 2021

Ed Wynes passed away at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City after a brief illness; he was 79.  A resident of Elko, NV, Ed lived a storied life.  He was born in Woodland, CA to William Edwards Wynes and Marion Hannah Smith Wynes, both deceased.  Ed’s younger sister, Marion Judith Wynes, is also deceased.  Ed’s family moved around northern California before settling in Winters, CA where Ed graduated from Winters Joint Union High School in 1959.  Ed attended Sacramento City College and Southern Oregon College (now Southern Oregon University) between high school graduation and 1964.  By his own admission, Ed was not a stellar student.  In the spring of 1964 as his draft number was coming up, Ed enlisted in the U.S. Army, specifically in the Army Security Agency (ASA).  During his enlistment, Ed was posted in Massachusetts, Virginia, Turkey and Vietnam.  In 1968, Ed mustered out of the Army with the rank of sergeant.  He re-enrolled at Southern Oregon College (SOC) that same year and graduated with a degree in political science in 1971.  It was at SOC that he met and married Pam Whiting in 1971; they were married for 43 years before her passing in 2014.   Ed completed his education with a Certificate of Urban Studies from Portland State University in 1973.  That year, Ed began his 38 year career as a land use planner working for a number of public agencies (mostly rural communities) in Oregon and Nevada.  In many of these positions, he was the director of planning.  Ed was a member of the Nevada Chapter of the American Planning Association (NVAPA), a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and a member of Western Planning Resources, Inc.  Ed was honored by Western Planning Resources, Inc. with the Planner of Year Award in 2000.  Ed also co-authored the first NVAPA Planner’s Guide and co-authored a published article on the regulation of local houses of prostitution (which is legal in some Nevada counties).  After Ed’s retirement, he became very interested in genealogy and was working on a family history of his and Pam’s family.  Ed is survived by his brother-in-law Eben Whiting.  Ed and Pam are missed by those who had the pleasure of knowing them.  A memorial service is pending.