Arthur Edmund Layne, Sr.

Yorktown, Va. – Arthur Edmund Layne, Sr., 90, ascended to Glory on Friday, May 3rd, 2019.
He was preceded in death by his father, mother, his sister and three brothers. He is survived by his wife, Wanda, and three sons, Arty, John and Jeff; his two grandchildren, Rebecca and Timmy Layne; five great-grandchildren; as well as his brother, Ronnie Layne of Waynesboro.
He was born on Chiswell Farm in Greenwood, VA. He graduated from Greenwood HS and became the first of his family to attend college at the University of Virginia; the first of many relatives to follow. He was a faithful fan of Cavaliers football and basketball teams over the years; a national championship in basketball was something he was glad to live long enough to see.
After UVA, he married Wanda Jackson Layne, the love of his life for 67 years. They raised three boys together. The two were faithful partners who shared many common interests that sustained them for years. In all that time, they loved each other very much and he loved his family. If our parents argued, we never saw it.
He joined the Navy and was stationed in Panama in the early 50’s. It was then that this Afton Mountain boy fell in love with the sea.
Upon leaving the service, he became a pharmaceutical representative for a drug company. He was never a man of one job, however. He began building houses; a trade he learned in college in case the university didn’t work out for him. He was an entrepreneur. His work in antiques, real estate, barricade rentals, and eventually, operating deep-sea clam boats out of Chincoteague reflected the range of his interests and his initiative in their pursuit.
Dad taught us the farmboy virtues and benefits of hard work; it doesn’t kill you! In addition to the weekends and holidays we spent doing home construction, he shared his passion for sports and play with us; as well as the discipline to not to get work and play confused. He was a sportsman with years of hunting and fishing experience to share. He participated in coaching youth baseball in York County as we came of age to play. He shared so much with us. The eventual blessings of his two grandchildren and his great-grandchidren became a new focus of love for him in his later years.
Arthur was a member of Providence United Methodist Church since the early 1960’s. He was a devoted servant of God, whose love for his church, his fellow worshippers, and his community endured throughout his life. He was certain of life after death. Death was not an end, but a passage into God’s arms and his Glory.
Arthur Layne was a good and righteous man who loved life, family and others, and who was much loved in return. We will miss him, but know that he is with his Maker and his Lord, Jesus Christ. He will be with us always.
A Funeral Service and burial will be held at Providence United Methodist Church on Wednesday May 8, 2019 at 10 a.m. A reception will follow in church Social Hall. Refreshment will be served. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Providence United Methodist Church are requested. Arrangements by Amory Funeral Home, Grafton, Va.