Wayne R. Townsend

Mr. Wayne R. Townsend, age 79 of Farmington, NM passed from this world to the next on Wednesday August 27, 2025.

Wayne was born on March 31, 1946, to Jessie and Elmer Townsend of Jeffersonville, New York. He was the middle child of five. He spent the first eighteen years living and working on the family farm. After high school graduation, he attended a two-year college. Deciding he wanted a warmer climate he transferred to NMSU to obtain his B.S. degree in engineering. While there he met his lifelong partner, Mary Alice McCarty and they were married on June 2, 1969, two days after college graduation.

They started their married life in Aztec, NM where Mary Alice taught and Wayne worked for Halliburton. Their daughter Christy was born during this time. Wayne's work transferred them to West Texas as an engineer, district engineer and salesman. Their son Jeff was born in West Texas.

Wayne was transferred back to Farmington as Halliburton's Assistant Manager. He changed employers and went to work for Smith Energy as a Manager in both Rock Springs, Wyoming and Farmington, NM. Wayne was also Vice President and President of a small oil company, Aztec Energy. He consulted in the oil field and owned an automotive company. He went to work as a petroleum engineer in the Farmington BLM office. He worked at BLM until he retired at the age of 67.

Wayne is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years Mary Alice, his two children, their spouses and four grandchildren. He is also survived by his two sisters, Laurie DePalo and Lisa Moran, and numerous nephews and nieces.

Wayne was a friend, son, brother, husband, father and grandfather. His greatest pleasure in life was creating memories with his family and adventures with his grandchildren which were the "chocolate on his ice cream".

He was a rock to his family, a man of his word, and made the world a better place for those who knew him.

A celebration of Wayne's life will be held on Tuesday September 2, 2025, at 10:00 am at the Farmington Funeral Home, 2111 W. Apache St., Farmington, NM 87401