1947 – 2016
Wayne Ogonoski, born 26 Sept. 1947 in Windsor Ontario, passed away on or about 27 Jan. 2016 from complications of a punctured lung he sustained in a fall in his apartment in Pattaya. He was 68 years old.
Wayne’s parents, Edward & Dora Ogonoski, met and married in England whilst Edward was in the Canadian Army.
Wayne grew up in Windsor where he attended St. Edward grade school and Assumption Catholic High School. He worked at Chrysler Canada for about 10 yrs. and then left for Alberta Canada, working in the oil and gas industry. As work began to slow down there he headed overseas again in oil & gas for various companies and countries. While working in Oman his time off was spent in Pattaya where he found a place he loved and settled there.
Wayne was known locally as a fun loving Canadian who worked in the oilfield industry from the service sector, eventually migrating into safety HSE later in his career.
Wayne first came to Pattaya in the late 80’s and made it his home. He was an active member of the PH3 for many years and later ran with the TOF’s Wed. crowd.
Wayne was also one of the founding members and a major driving force behind the Canadian Jackalope Open annual charity golf tournament. Donating his time and effort to helping that tournament achieve the status of “Major” on the Pattaya golf circuit. He was also instrumental in ensuring that the funds raised reached the target charity, the Camillian Center, which cares for untold numbers of AIDS orphans and children living with HIV.
Wayne played an important role in getting the Jackalope hooked up with the Jester’s Care for Kids Charity organization which then drastically increased the amount of money available to his “pet” charity.
Wayne had recently relocated to Windsor Ontario Canada to spend some time with his sister and her family and had planned to summer in Canada and winter in his second home Pattaya.
His 6 month stay in Canada was spent getting reacquainted with the city, going to car shows with his brother-in-law Ken, out to dinner with friends, but mostly he worked with his computer.
Wayne was known and respected by most everyone he knew and will be missed by a lot of Pattaya expats, locals and a few of the local watering holes that he was known to frequent.
Wayne, the middle child in the family, is survived by two sisters: Pauline Lamoureux (and husband Ken), and Lynne Sanders (and husband Ken) along with numerous nieces and nephews.
Rest in Peace Wayne
