Irvin Weems Guyer

Irvin Weems Guyer February 13, 1929 - May 9, 2011 Irvin Weems Guyer received his wings from the Lord May 9, 2011. Services will be 10:30 a.m., Thursday, May 12, at First Lutheran Church with the Rev. Paul Fiske officiating. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. Visitation will be 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 11, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey. Irvin was born February 13, 1929, to Evelyn Tholcken and Franklin Weems Guyer in Waco. He graduated from Ball High School in Galveston, Texas, in 1946. After graduation, he started work at GH&H Railroad as a bicycle courier, then onto warehouse manager, transferring to Missouri Pacific Railroad as a traffic manager. He married his long time neighbor and high school sweetheart, Betty Lou Macklin, on July 16, 1948, and was happily married for 63 years. He was transferred to Austin, and then in 1959, transferred to Waco, where he retired as a Union Pacific Sales Manager in 1986. During this time they had three children, whom he loved with all his heart. An avid outdoorsman, hunter, and fisherman, he would take two weeklong camping vacations with his family each summer, then later yearly snow skiing trips, even taking his two grandchildren at the ages of 3 years. He took scuba diving lessons with his son, and was PADI certified in 1984. He encouraged Betty to take lessons also and after her PADI certification in 1985, they took many trips to Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Jamaica with their daughter, Barbara, and her husband, Max. He enjoyed picking at his son-in-law, Brian, about politics mostly, but they just had fun picking at each other. At the age of 70, he began his lifelong dream to build an airplane and learn to fly. He did this with the help of his son, Michael, and his two grandsons, James and Sean Maguire, and the patience of his wife, Betty. The plane, an RV6, started in the upstairs bedroom of their home and finished in the garage. He received his experimental pilot license at the age of 74. Phil Grisham, his instructor, stated he was the oldest person he ever taught. He was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Chapter 59, a Master Mason of Lodge No. 12 in Austin, and a member at First Lutheran Church. Words cannot express what a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather he was. The void he leaves in our lives will never be filled. He is survived by the love of his life, his wife, Betty Lou Guyer; daughter, Barbara Naegler and husband, Max, of Glenpool, OK; son, Michael Guyer and wife, Lenesa, of Valley Mills, TX; daughter, Karen Maguire and husband, Brian of Hewitt, TX; sister, Gwendolyn Goodman and husband, Neil, of Galveston; three grandchildren, James Maguire, Sean Maguire, and Kristiane Naegler; and three step great grandchildren, Madeline and Carter Todd and Christian Quetz. Pallbearers will be Dale Breedlove, Jon Botsford, Jim Hail, Jim Warren, Bill Golding and Johnny Holick. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Chapter 59 of the E.E.A. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our "Memorial Guestbook" at www.WilkirsonHatchBailey.com.